A probe into the scandal-plagued Kaohsiung MRT construction project found no evidence that the officials responsible for the adoption of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model for the project had any conflicts of interest or were negligent. Those officials included Premier and former Kaohsiung mayors Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Wu Den-yih (吳敦義).
But the "Kaohsiung MRT Investigation Report" found that the former vice chairman of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC), Chen Min-hsien (
Chen abused his power to help Tieng Cheng Co win 11 contracts out of 14 public biddings for concrete construction.
The report was conducted two weeks ago by a five-member investigative team.
During a press conference held to announce the results yesterday, acting Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said the report was based on an investigation into written statements and interviews collected by the team. It also talked to Hsieh and Chou Li-liang (周禮良) -- a Ministry of Transportation and Communications vice minister and former director general of the Kaohsiung Department of Rapid Transit Systems.
"The report is fair and objective," Yeh said. "There has been absolutely no politics involved in the investigation."
According to the report, the the central government and the city government reached a consensus to adopt the BOT model for the project.
"Since there were no specific private companies involved in the decision-making process back then, it is hard to say that there was any conflict of interest," Yeh said.
The report did find "administrative misconduct" in the management of Thai laborers.
The report said there was no evidence of "misconduct" by Hsieh, Wu or former acting mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁). But it did not address whether they should be held accountable for their part in adopting a BOT model that many consider to have been flawed.
Yeh said that the prosecutors and the courts will follow up on possibly illegal activities uncovered by the probe.
"The report will not comment on whether the whole decision of the BOT model was right, and we will leave further investigation to the judiciary," she added.
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