Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he has instructed the Taipei Construction Management Office to inspect the Taipei Dome site on a weekly basis to ensure the structural safety of the half-finished project.
Ko made the remark when asked by reporters to comment on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Yan Sheng-guan’s (顏聖冠) finding that an elongated crack has appeared in a wall in the Criminal Investigation Bureau compound next to the Taipei Dome site.
The crack reportedly straggles along the foot of the wall, part of which appears to be separated from the ground.
Photo courtesy of Taipei City Councilor Yen Sheng-kuan’s office
Ko said that at a meeting he asked the office to inspect the Dome site weekly, so that swift responses could be made to address any safety problems.
He criticized Dome contractor Farglory Group over the latest damage the construction was found to have caused nearby buildings, saying that the company “acts like it just does not care.”
Office chief engineer Horng Der-haur (洪德豪) said that the crack was caused by land subsidence created by the construction, and that Dome architect Stan Lo (羅興華) had confirmed this.
Farglory reached an agreement with the bureau to fix the wall and shoulder any necessary costs, Horng said.
He said that the crack does not pose any safety risks to the building, as it has not compromised the main structure, adding that the wall is hollow, which is why it appeared as though it had been lifted above the ground.
Also yesterday, Ko did not give a definite answer when asked to comment on DPP Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu’s (高嘉瑜) remark that all questions surrounding the Dome’s future would be clarified during a report to be submitted by city officials to the council on May 23, saying only that “at least, a plan will be proposed.”
On Kao’s remarks that Ko’s approval ratings would immediately rebound if he demolished the Dome, Ko said: “I would do so if I could,” adding that all issues surrounding the Dome should proceed within legal parameters.
The city last month said it had set the tone for the beleaguered build-operate-transfer project, which is to dissolve the contract it has with Farglory.
However, questions were raised over compensation the city would have to pay the company and how it is to legally seek an interested third party to take over the project.
On city councilors’ concerns that renovation work at 41 of the 52 venues needed for the Summer Universiade in August next year had not been contracted out, indicating that preparatory work is falling behind schedule, Ko said that some of these venues are in schools and can only be renovated during the summer vacation.
He said that some of the renovations are easy to manage, such as replacing air conditioning systems, adding that all renovation work would be completed by April next year.
Taipei City Government Deputy Secretary-General Hsueh Chun-ming (薛春明) said that the International University Sports Federation has been “very pleased” with the progress made on renovating the venues so far.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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