Farglory Group chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) launched another attack on the Control Yuan and a former subcontractor over the Taipei Dome project yesterday, accusing them of manipulating the project and insisting that the company did not violate any regulations.
The attack came in the form of half-page ads on the front page of several Chinese-language newspapers — the second time Farglory has done so in recent weeks.
The Control Yuan issued corrective measures last month against the Public Construction Commission and the Taipei City Government, demanding that the two parties address 39 problems with the project, including the changing of subcontractors and the design of the stadium, as well as the expansion of the building from three stories to four to create more space for department stores.
Chao, accompanied by Independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Ruei-tu (林瑞圖), questioned the relationship between Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄), who was in charge of the case, and architect Ricky Liu (劉培森), head of the project’s original subcontractor. Chao accused Huang of failing to avoid a conflict of interest by inviting Liu on an inspection tour of the Kaohsiung Dome project and Kaohsiung City Government earlier this year.
Chao added that Huang violated the principle of non-retroactivity of laws by issuing the corrective measures based on articles 22.1 and 41.1 of the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法).
Farglory signed the contract with the city government in 2006 and did not break the law under the principle of non-retroactivity as the articles Huang cited were added to the act last year.
“A major public construction project is being held up because of some individuals’ collaboration ... I am extremely worried about Taiwan’s competitiveness,” Chao told a press conference at the Taipei City Council.
Chao said that Liu, Japan’s Takenaka Corp and Japanese architect Hara Hiroshi pulled out of the project in September 2004 after the group rejected their “unreasonable” demands for “enormous profits.”
Since then, Liu has tried every means possible to persuade the Taipei City Government and the city council to nullify the bid for the construction project after Farglory was named as the preferred bidder, Chao said.
The city government has been given two months to revise the contract according to the corrective measures and present a report to the Control Yuan. It has formed a negotiation team to deal with the problems with Farglory.
Chao accused the city government of bias against the company, with its demand that Farglory use the original subcontractor.
“I will not attend the meeting and I cannot stop the city government from interfering with the project. However, I want the public to know that I did not do anything illegal,” he said.
The Control Yuan launched the probe following complaints by environmentalists who oppose the removal of more than 700 old trees to make way for the construction. The proposaed Dome will occupy about 18 hectares on the former site of the Songshan Tobacco Factory and feature an indoor 40,000-seat stadium, hotels and a shopping center.
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