It seems that the government just can't get enough of scandal and intrigue.
One would think that after the drubbing it received in the most recent election, the Democratic Progressive Party would be making a wholehearted effort to reassure the public it was taking every possible measure to root out corruption.
But all indications point to sheer obliviousness on the part of the Chen administration. A perfect example is the utter mess that surrounds the nation's efforts to improve public infrastructure.
The bruising debacle of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp scandal was merely the most prominent of a series of disasters orchestrated through the synergy of incompetence, corruption and apathy.
The delays that have -- once again -- beset the Taipei-Kaohsiung high-speed rail project are a further example of, if not brazen malfeasance, then a supercilious disregard for the public, which all too often has to pay, in tax dollars, for the damage done by crooked politicians.
When the high-speed rail project, long plagued by engineering problems, cost overruns and missed deadlines, was delayed for another year, it came as no surprise to any reasonable person. The public long ago learned to look with cynicism at build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects. Some even define BOT as "business-to-official transfers" to highlight the cozy nature of complicity between private interests and public institutions, and the graft that predictably comes with such projects.
So after one of the president's closest advisers was implicated in a graft scandal involving the Kaohsiung MRT project, many people, though bitter about such a bold betrayal of public trust, hoped that it meant things would change. They hoped the government would condemn practices that allowed officials to wallow comfortably in the pockets of corporate interests. They hoped for more accountability, for more oversight.
They hoped in vain.
The government awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to the Japanese firm Marubeni Corp, representing a consortium between itself, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and Hitachi Ltd, last Friday. The project, worth US$758 million, is to build a rail link from CKS International Airport to Taipei, where it would link with the high-speed rail line.
This project was attempted before, but it was the same old story -- millions of tax dollars spent, and then delays, engineering problems, cost overruns, allegations of corruption, and finally, cancelation.
This time, how do we know things won't follow the usual trajectory? Siemens, one of the companies that bid on the project, has complained that Marubeni's bid was not up to snuff. The long and short of it is that some people think Marubeni may have tweaked its proposal in such a way as to come up with a cheap deal, all the while knowing that the price would have to be jacked up once construction actually began. This comes after engineers publicly questioned the safety of the rail system that the government plans to build.
In a deal worth this much money, someone is bound to complain. So is this just a case of corporate sour grapes, or are these fears justified?
Unfortunately, taxpayers may only find out once they pay for it. Because according to the process by which the government awards contracts, it is two different parts of the same Cabinet that decide which company gets a project and that arbitrate complaints about the award process.
What is of greatest concern is this: Why, when independent oversight is needed, is the nation's watchdog agency, the Control Yuan, not functioning? Why haven't the pan-blue parties and the president tried to find a compromise on the agency's blocked nominations?
We may yet learn that the reason is quite simple.
Perhaps there is just too much money to be made in "black gold" by avoiding scrutiny.
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