BES Engineering Corp yesterday accused Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of corruption, claiming its bid for the Taipei Twin Towers (台北雙子星) project is being forced out to make way for contractors the mayor favors.
The Taipei Twin Towers is a major construction project intended to service the future Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT line, connecting it to Taipei’s other train and MRT lines.
The project has been plagued with controversy after the initial contractor, Taipei Gateway International Development Co, was implicated in a series of corruption scandals. BES Engineering was designated as the project’s winning bidder after Taipei Gateway withdrew in November last year.
On Monday, the firm accused the government of setting impossible contract-signing conditions.
In an open letter to Hau yesterday, BES board chairman Shen Ching-ching (沈慶京) called on the city government to sign a contract with the firm “in accordance with the reasonable, legally acceptable terms for contract approval laid out in the investor brochure [during the bidding process].”
If the city refuses to sign such a contract, the firm would be forced to believe that the mayor is pushing out the firm to make way for personally favored bidders, he said, threatening legal action against the mayor.
“We are flabbergasted by the fact that BES is unwilling to sign a contract requiring it to put into writing its previous oral promises,” he said on Friday, adding the firm had previously agreed to the government’s contract-signing conditions.
BES has said that it would seek a court injunction against the government. Hau said that based on precedent, there was no way the firm’s suit would stand up in court, because the city government and BES are still in the process of negotiating a contract.
“I think they’re using this as a means of slowing down the negotiating process,” he said, claiming that BES is seeking to wait out his administration in hopes the next city government would not hold it to previous promises.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
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A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
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