Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors slammed the Taipei City Government yesterday over delays in public construction projects, saying that more than 60 percent of major construction projects in the city were facing delays, which was affecting the city's competitiveness and causing financial losses.
Ninety out of 147 major municipal construction projects in Taipei City costing a total of more than NT$50 million (US$1.6 million) were at least six months behind schedule and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) had failed to look for solutions, DPP Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) said.
“The city government’s poor efficiency is making it impossible for people to believe the projects will be completed on time,” Wu said yesterday at the Taipei City Council.
PHOTO: CNA
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chou Wei-yo (周威佑) said tha t many construction projects, including the mass rapid transit (MRT) system’s Xinzhuang and Xinyi lines, the Shanzhuku (山豬窟) landfill in Nangang District and the cleaning of the Neihu dumping site had all been delayed without new deadlines being announced.
Chou said the city’s Environmental Protection Department, Land Department, Transportation Department and Public Works Department were the main culprits.
About 74 percent of construction work on the city’s drainage system had been put off by the Public Works Department, he said.
“Most projects concern people’s lives and the city government should not ignore the needs of residents and neglect its duties,” Chou said.
In response, Liu Kuo-ming (劉國銘), chief secretary of the Public Works Department, said that weather conditions, increases in the price of raw materials and other factors had contributed to the delays.
Lu Shih-chan (盧世昌), a division chief at the Environmental Protection Department, said that some of the projects, including the Shanzhuku landfill, were delayed because of reviews by the city council.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
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