Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday urged Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group to honor its word and complete a construction license change for the Taipei Dome complex in accordance with the law, after the conglomerate again sparked turmoil over the build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.
Farglory spokesman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) — just seven hours after Ko announced his decision to retain the contract on Thursday — said that the company would abide by “existing” provisions in the safety review processes for the complex, and the seven safety standards, which Farglory says have no legal basis, do not fall within that category.
Yang targeted a comment by Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民), who said that the standards were based on provisions that apply to “Taipei, the nation and Farglory,” saying that the conglomerate disagrees with Lin’s claim and that it would not comply with any reviews carried out according to the “illegitimate” standards.
“I hope that Farglory would value its reputation,” Ko said in response to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference yesterday.
“We will use the commitments that they laid down in black and white as the central reference,” Ko said, citing a letter of consent Farglory delivered to the Taipei City Government on Wednesday, stating its willingness to finish the project according to the city’s bylaws.
Despite saying that he would not comment on this issue, Ko could not contain his frustration with his predecessor, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), when asked by reporters about a swipe Hau had taken at him on Thursday, after Ko announced that the BOT contract was to be continued.
Hau said that Ko had been “hatching an egg” — a play on “big egg,” the Chinese phrase for dome-shaped stadiums — for 500 days, but all that he brought forth was a “Psyduck,” a character in the hit mobile game Pokemon Go that is widely said to bear a resemblance to Ko.
“Let me tell you: I am only cleaning up the mess [Hau] left behind,” Ko said.
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