Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
"The final date to mark the completion of the tunnel's construction will be made public by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications," Cheng said.
"However, I can assure you that there will only be a ceremony to commemorate those who had dedicated their lives to this tunnel's construction," said Cheng, who also doubles as Government Information Office minister.
The spokesman made the remarks during a press conference following the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
Cheng said that construction of the tunnel, which is the fifth-longest in the world took 15 years.
At the moment, it was more important to remember the contribution and dedication of those technicians and workers who died during the building of the tunnel, he said.
"Former premiers Yu Shyi-kun and Frank Hsieh (
He added that many foreign architects and technicians had tried to dissuade their Taiwanese counterparts from continuing with the project given the difficulties involved.
"The tunnel is more than 500 meters deep and goes through a huge massif," he said.
In addition, architects and technicians had to work under the threat of continuous water leakage, which could flood the tunnel immediately and drown everybody who was working there, Cheng said.
"The completion of the tunnel has been entered into the record books," Cheng said.
"We finished the construction on our own and we should be proud of it," he said.
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