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Probe on gondola system won’t include Ma

Taipei City’s Department of Government Ethics yesterday promised to present an report on the responsibility of city officials in the construction of the Maokong Gondola system within a week, but said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) involvement as former Taipei mayor would not be investigated.

The department began the investigation last Tuesday amid growing criticism of the decision to build the gondola system in fragile areas of Muzha (木柵). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors challenged the department’s independence after Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) returned its initial report on Monday and demanded further investigation.

“We regret the city government did not make public the investigation report and try to protect the officials,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-feng (李慶鋒) said during a public hearing on the gondola system at the Taipei City Council yesterday.

“If the mayor has the authority to approve the report, I don’t think the report would be independent and fair,” he said.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) and Lee sponsored the hearing, and invited city officials, geologists and people living near the gondola system to discuss safety issues.

Huang Chao-hsiang (黃兆祥), a division chief at the department, said staff members had already talked to those who were involved in decision-making for the construction, including former commissioner of the Department of Transportation Jason Lin (林志盈), former director of the Public Works Office Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) and contractors.

Ma was not on the list.

“We need to follow the procedure and present the report to the mayor ... It would be inappropriate for us to investigate the former mayor,” he said.

The department will talk to superintendents of the construction companies before presenting a complete report.

The Maokong Gondola was a major project of the Ma’s administration.

After mudslides caused erosion around a support pillar in September and forced the city to suspend the service indefinitely, the gondola became a thorny issue for Hau’s administration.

Taipei City Government spokesman Yang Hsiao-tung (羊曉東) said city hall would not interfere with the Government Ethics Department’s investigation.

Chien and Lee condemned Hau for protecting Ma by claiming his predecessor had no responsibility over the gondola system.

“We challenge the safety of the system in the interest of the public, rather than politicizing the issue. Those officials who try to protect each other are murdering the gondola,” Lee said.

Yang said the city would decide whether to remove the damaged pillar after a complete evaluation on the safety of the system is issued on Friday.
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