Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
During a question-and-answer session in the Taipei City Council, Hau said the construction, which has been suspended after a bribery scandal was unveiled last year, was halted as a result of "problems of the central government officials' integrity." There was however no scandal during the city government's bidding and operation process, he said.
He was referring to the Taipei District Court's conviction of four government officials, including former vice minister of the interior Yen Wan-chin (
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The court found Yen guilty of taking NT$1.2 million (US$37,000) in bribes from Rich Development, a construction company that was awarded a build-operate-transfer (BOT) bid to construct the system.
Rich Development won the bid to construct the cable car system in December 2005.
It proposed to build four cable car stations as well as the Yangmingshan National Park Service Center.
The company was granted construction permits in March last year while the construction work began in May last year.
Soon after the permits were awarded, however, Taipei prosecutors received complaints alleging that the permits had been awarded illegally.
During yesterday's session, Taipei City Secretariat Deputy Director Yang Hsi-an (楊錫安) said the city government would not terminate the city's contract with Rich Development because the city government issued the construction permits to the company as a "juridical person" while the bribery was a behavior of "a natural person."
Hau said the company had informed the city government in March that it had changed its mind not to construct accommodation and hot spring facilities at a stop in Yangmingshan.
Therefore, the construction project would not require an environmental impact review, Hau said, adding that the city government had received a modified construction plan from the company at the end of August.
The plan would be referred to the Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters for review after the city government examines it, Hau said, adding that the construction would be able to be resumed if the plan is approved by the national park.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
RSS