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Taipei City, Ma slam `Next' over Taipei Arena story

The Taipei City Government and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday denied ignoring construction defects and contract scandals to ensure the opening of the Taipei Arena in October 2005 before his term as mayor ended.

A story in the Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday labeled Ma "fatuous" for issuing the arena's operation license to the group in 2005 despite 3,000 deficiencies.

After almost two years of operation, the building still has 30 deficiencies, including the design of emergency exits and the use of toxic paints, Next said.

A spokesman for Ma, Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), condemned the magazine for making unbalanced remarks without seeking confirmation from the city government.

"The article was full of mistakes. It made groundless allegations and failed to present a balanced report by confirming its details with the city government," Lo said at a press conference.

Lo said the Taipei Arena scandal was under investigation and Ma would respect the results of the probe.

Lee Shu-chuan (李四川), director of the city's New Construction Department, also dismissed the allegations.

"It's impossible for us to issue a license by simply looking at a blueprint ? And I don't know where the `3,000 deficiencies' came from," Lee told a separate press conference at Taipei City Hall.

Lee acknowledged that there are 30 deficiencies with the facility, but said the city government had found a contractor to rectify the "minor problems."

City government Law and Regulation Committee Commissioner Yeh Chin-yuan (葉慶元) said the city might file a lawsuit against Next for defamation.

The magazine story comes amid a scandal over the Taipei Arena's contract with Eastern Multimedia Group (EMG). It was alleged that EMG chairman Gary Wang (王令麟) bribed city government officials to win the nine-year contract.

EMG won the contract in May 2005 with a NT$1.5 billion (US$400 million) bid.

Prosecutors have questioned former city Sports Department director Liu Jia-tseng (劉家增) over allegations he took a bribe from Wang and helped EMG win the bid.

The city government is reportedly considering canceling the contract with EMG.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) has said the city has formed a special committee to review the contract and the arena would remain in operation despite the scandal.
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