The government is to launch a comprehensive inspection of all major transportation projects to determine if officials had accepted bribes from the French company Alstom, Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said yesterday.
The Levallois-Perret-based firm had agreed to pay US$772 million to the US earlier this week after pleading guilty to bribery charges following an investigation by the US Department of Justice.
The US investigation showed that between 2000 and 2010, Alstom had paid more than US$75 million in bribes to secure US$4 billion in contracts around the world, including in Egypt, Indonesia and Taiwan.
US Deputy Attorney General James Cole said on Monday that the bribery scheme “was astounding in its breadth, its brazenness and its worldwide consequences.”
Taiwan’s alleged involvement in the Alstom’s bribery scheme was brought up by lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review construction funds for the high-speed rail system.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), who presided over the budget review session, said that reports showed that Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and Taipei Rapid Transport Corp (TRTC) had conducted business with Alstom in the past.
The VAL256-model trains deployed on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu Line (Line 1) use electric, mechanical and signaling systems produced by Alstom, while Taipower uses Alstom’s turbine engines for its thermal power plants, she said.
Yeh Yi-jin said that she has evidence that Alstom was involved in the construction of the nation’s Airport Rail.
She added that a former low-level civil servant in the TRTC was hired by Alstom to work in the French company’s branch office.
She questioned whether officials involved in Airport Rail project might have also accepted bribes from the French multinational company.
In response, Yeh Kuang-shih said that the ministry would conduct a comprehensive inspection of all transport projects under its supervision.
The Bureau of High Speed Rail said the Marubani Corp secured the overall contract for the Airport Rail’s signaling system, which then outsourced the contract of installing the system to Siemens. Alstom is not involved in the project.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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