Hau tries to restart Yangmingshan cable car project

Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chuang Jui-hsiung, front left, quarrels with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Councilor Wang Chih-ping, second right at back, at the Taipei City Council yesterday. PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said construction of a cable car system connecting Taipei's Beitou District and Yangmingshan National Park is a must and should be constructed as soon as possible.

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 (顏萬進), on corruption charges last year in relation to the construction project.

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.