The Control Yuan yesterday issued a corrective measure against government offices involved in the Taipei Music Center for the project’s increased costs and delays.
The Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Culture and the Taipei City Government have been negligent in their handling of the program, which has cost the nation an opportunity to grow the music industry and halt a brain drain in the music recording industry, the Control Yuan said in a report.
Although the Executive Yuan approved the project in February 2004, the center in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) has been unable to begin operations due to multiple delays, indicating poor administrative oversight, the Control Yuan said in its report.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Music Center
The project’s costs have risen from NT$4.6 billion to NT$6.1 billion (US$149.03 million to US$197.6 million), or an increase of 33.6 percent, showing a lack of fiscal control, it said.
The Executive Yuan suggested that the center’s seating capacity be increased from 3,000 to between 5,000 and 10,000, but the Taipei City Government refused to comply until the Legislative Yuan froze the budget item for a second time, it said.
The Executive Yuan asked for a larger center because the nation lacked medium-sized venues, a shortage that remains unaddressed due to the inability to open the center, the report said.
The government departments should also improve their budget distribution and oversight, as well as address safety concerns regarding the center’s redesigned aisles, which are too narrow, it said.
While the northern part of the center is completed, the southern part is behind schedule and the government departments should recalculate the project’s budget, the report said.
Although the Executive Yuan has stopped subsidizing the project, it should take on the responsibility of advising the Ministry of Culture and Taipei City Government to prevent the center from becoming another stagnant public project, it said.
The corrective measure was handed out by Control Yuan members Chen Hsiao-hung (陳小紅), Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) and Yang Fang-ling (楊芳玲), the report said.
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