Taiwan Land Development Co (TLDC) yesterday said it would serve as a mediator to resolve the Taipei Dome build-operate-transfer (BOT) project if the contract between the Taipei City Government and Farglory Group is terminated.
TLDC chairman Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) told a news conference that he had been meeting with Taipei Department of Urban Development officials for two weeks, while the city on Monday said that it would dissolve the contract if Farglory did not make the improvements necessary for it to resume construction of the Dome within three months.
The improvements include revising its plans to bring the Dome’s safety standards in line with four criteria mandated by the city government and three criteria being reviewed by the Taiwan Architecture and Building Center.
Chiu said that as a baseball fan and a Taipei resident, he could not bear to see the planned stadium being slowly eaten away by corrosion and hoped to break down the barriers for other potential third parties to participate in the bid to take over the project.
He said TLDC would deliver a new design for the Dome on the basis of the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (促進民間參與公共建設法) after completing an assessment of the seven criteria.
“Both the public and private sectors hope to achieve a win-win situation though BOT projects. My approach leaves no one out of the team and we welcome Farglory,” Chiu said.
“In this manner, problems are easily solved,” he said.
Chiu said that TLDC would team up with ARUP Group, which has designed large stadiums such as the Beijing National Stadium and the Singapore Sports Hub, to create a new design for the Dome, and contract PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Taiwan, to do legal counseling.
Chiu said that his company has tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars ready for the Dome’s redesign, but that it would not be the third party to take over the Dome, but rather a mediator that provides a platform for other companies to do so.
Asked which party would pay the design fee, Chiu said: “All firms involved can split [the fee].”
PwC, Taiwan, associate general manager Lin Chun-chih (林君志) said TLDC would submit its design when the contract between Taipei and Farglory is dissolved.
In related news, reporters asked Taipei Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) whether he had met privately with business leaders to discuss the Dome, which would be a breach of the regulations governing BOT projects.
Lin said Chiu had visited him twice and broached the topic of the Dome debacle and that he gave him an overview of the seven criteria.
Both visits were made public, Lin added.
Farglory spokesman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) yesterday reiterated the firm’s stance regarding the Dome.
“Farglory will not contact any third parties. All of the Taipei City Government’s dealings with corporations to flag the project and discuss exchange of benefits do not concern Farglory,” Yang said.
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