The Council for Cultural Affairs rigged its bidding process for a project to restore Huashan Culture Park in Taipei in favor of one particular contractor and council chairman Chiu Kun-liang (邱坤良) has rented out buildings in the park at deflated prices, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators alleged yesterday.
Speaking to reporters at the DPP caucus' office in the legislature yesterday, DPP legislators Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), Charles Chiang (江昭儀) and Huang Chao-hui (黃昭輝) demanded that the council stop its bidding process for the park restoration project and submit to legislative oversight before beginning the process anew.
"There is strong evidence that the project is rigged through and through," Gao said.
Located on Bade Road, Taipei, the park is managed by the council and boasts a number of historic structures, including a winery and railway station dating back to the Qing Dynasty.
In recent years, the council has been renovating the buildings into a performing arts center, and plans to further renovate the park, according to its Web site.
Those plans, Huang said, are riddled with shady practices, not the least of which was the method of "public" announcement for the project to attract the best contractor. The council said late last year that the tender would begin in July of this year, but then "secretly" started the bidding process during the Lunar New Year holiday -- a time when most people were on vacation.
The bidding process is set to conclude on Monday, according to a press release from Gao's office.
"The council didn't want the news of the tender to get out. They wanted to catch outsiders off guard and ill-prepared to submit their bids," Huang added.
Other suspicious developments in the park include the council's setting outrageously low rents, Gao told reporters, saying that the historical buildings in the park, which are located amid prime real estate, are being rented out to local businesses "at prices scarcely above the total for land and income taxes for the buildings."
So far, three private organizations have submitted bids for the restoration project, the release said: The Association of Culture Environment Reform, Taiwan; the Creative Cultural Industry Association; and a local construction firm that apparently has neither a Web site nor an English name.
The council rebutted the claims of the legislators in a statement last night, saying that both its bidding process and the collection of rent have been conducted in a legal manner.
The council added that rent has been kept low to retain investors interested in the property as a base for their performing arts business after they had already invested NT$150 million (US$4.6 million) in its restoration.
Although the rent has been set low, the council added, its collection has been in line with the relevant laws.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS