Media reports yesterday claimed that safety plans for the Taipei Dome (台北大巨蛋) were rushed through without significant review of required safety amendments.
The Storm Media Group reported that concerns over the safety of the site’s evacuation plans were put aside in the rush to issue a construction license to the contractor, Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設), just days before a city council imposed deadline.
The future of the stadium under construction in downtown Taipei has been up in the air after Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) last month stated that the city was considering requiring major design changes.
Citing safety concerns, Taipei deputy mayors Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) and Charles Lin (林欽榮) have both said that the city does not rule out demolishing the half-completed structure.
Storm Media’s article said that the site’s fire evacuation plan was passed just days after members of a Construction and Planning Agency subcommittee ordered Farglory to make substantial revisions, raising questions about whether the firm had been given a pass to allow Taipei to issue a construction license days before a city council imposed deadline for reopening the contract bidding process.
The article cited an unnamed senior city government official as saying that computer tests of site evacuation plans found that it would take as long as half an hour to fully evacuate, far longer than the eight-minute safety standard.
Planned shopping malls obstructing the structures exits were to blame, he said, adding that Farglory had rejected the city’s demands to reduce the shopping space.
The report said that the city would dissolve the firm’s contract if the structure was found to be unsafe, purchase it from Farglory and either demolish or retool it.
Taipei City Government spokesman Sydney Lin (林鶴明) said that while a committee investigating the Taipei Dome’s safety had been convened, it would take about a month to reach any conclusion.
He added that any discussion about dissolving the city’s contract with Farglory would be premature before the committee finishes its final report.
Taipei Fire Department Commissioner Wu Jun-hung (吳俊鴻) — who sits on the committee charged with investigating the structure’s safety — said the committee has yet to begin running the site’s evacuation plans through computer models.
Committee members are to meet with site architects today for the first time, he added.
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