CNA, Kaohsiung
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) responded cautiously yesterday to Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) plan to organize a private supervisory alliance to ensure the quality and safety of the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit (MRT) system, whose construction is suffering from political scandals and cave-ins.
The planned supervisory alliance would review the MRT railway's design, construction methods and groundwater hydrology before coming up with improvement proposals. Lu said on Saturday the alliance would also oversee the whole construction process.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsieh, who started awarding the building contracts and construction while he was mayor of the southern port city, made two comments yesterday in response to Lu's private supervisory alliance proposal.
First, Hsieh said he welcomed supervision by professionals, even though the Kaohsiung City Government already has a mechanism for that purpose.
He then cautioned that the Kaohsiung MRT issue should not be politicized as he fears political interference in the MRT construction process would affect professionalism.
He said the responsibility for the MRT problems should be shared by "all, irrespective of party affiliation." It should not be shifted to one person alone in an attempt to "kill me with one shot," he added.
Hsieh made his comments while attending a Hakka festival in Kaohsiung with Lee Yung-teh (
In response to reports that his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) , which suffered a great setback in the Dec. 3 local government elections, will form a "political integrity committee" next week to investigate whether Hsieh had been involved in the Kaohsiung MRT troubles, the premier said he was unconcerned.
The Kaohsiung MRT scandal that broke out after Thai workers working on the project rioted in late August was cited by analysts as one of the reasons for the DPP's election fiasco as investigations into it brought to light the involvement of former presidential aide Chen Che-nan (
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