Lawmakers serving on the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday passed a resolution asking Public Construction Commission (PCC) Minister Jack Hsu (許俊逸) to resign, after it was found that the commission advised the Bureau of High Speed Rail (BHSR) that it would consider giving the contractor of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line a reduced payment for the construction so that the MRT line could be launched early.
The resolution also said that commission officials involved should be investigated by the Agency Against Corruption.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications apologized on Friday last week for having to postpone the launch of the much-anticipated Taoyuan airport MRT line for the sixth time, because the contractor has yet to fulfill contractual obligations in terms of train average operating speed, express service operating times and train deployment intervals.
The problems surrounding the airport MRT line continued to dominate yesterday’s question-and-answer session at the committee meeting.
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬), Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) pointed to a classified internal document leaked to the media showing the commission had advised the bureau that the latter could give contractor Marubeni Corp a reduced price for the construction of the airport MRT line so the service could be launched faster.
Other lawmakers also questioned why the commission advised the bureau to accept the construction with a reduced payment to the contractor, when the contractor had repeatedly failed to address numerous issues with the train’s signaling system.
Lin said the Taoyuan airport MRT line has become a national embarrassment, adding that the nation has spent more than 20 years planning and building the airport rail, but it has yet to be launched.
The commission’s proposal was meant to be a solution for Marubeni Corp to extricate itself from the project, Lin said.
“If Marubeni wants to address the problems that surfaced during the tests, it would have to spend more money. Giving it a reduced price for the construction would help it get off the hook,” he said.
Lin said that Marubeni was not an experienced in building train signaling systems and had even illegally outsourced the project to another contractor.
The bureau can fine Marubeni for delaying the launch of the airport MRT line, but the fine was capped at 25 percent of the construction fund and it would not make the contractor change its attitude, he said.
Cheng asked Hsu how the proposal came about and who proposed the idea.
Hsu said the commission made the suggestion after discussing various problems facing the airport MRT line, adding that the suggestion was proposed based on Article No. 72 of the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法).
The article says: “If the result of inspection indicates any non-conformity with the contractual requirements, but the non-conformity neither hinders the safety or use required nor decreases the general function or the function designated by the contract, an acceptance with price-reduction may be conducted under conditions that the entity has determined that there is no need or it is difficult to make replacement.”
“The commissioners considered the proposal a viable option and it would not generate safety issues. It was later submitted to then-premier [Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國)], for the commission to handle the matter actively and appropriately,” he said.
Hsu said the document was meant to be a legal tool for the bureau, adding that the bureau rejected the commission’s advice.
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