Despite growing public mistrust of safety measures in the construction of Kaohsiung's MRT line after the fourth mishap in three months occurred on Monday, the city's Mass Rapid Transit Bureau expressed optimism yesterday about forging ahead with the project.
The frequent accidents have prompted doubts over the ability of the bureau and the contractor for the MRT project, Dashin Engineering, to minimize construction risks.
"I believe that the project can be back on track soon. It is not only the government's but also the people's hope to have the MRT project completed as soon as possible," bureau Secretary-General Cheng Che-ying (鄭哲英) said.
Four three-story buildings sank about 3m on Monday due to subsidence caused by construction at the MRT's Shitzuwan Station. The bureau demolished the buildings to prevent further damage in the area.
Twenty-four residents were evicted and housed in a nearby hotel.
"The damage is under control now. We have pumped in concrete to stop water filtering in and consolidated the trench wall to protect the site," Cheng said.
The city council yesterday reviewed the damage wrought by the subsidence.
According to Liao Ching-lung (
"The sandy layer poses greater technical difficulties for excavation in this area. Natural factors aside, we will examine the construction process to see if there has been any technical mistake or negligence in the geological survey," said Liao, who went to Kaohsiung on Tuesday to oversee the city's handling of the accident.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which finances about 57 percent of the NT$181.3 billion budget for the MRT project, suggested on Tuesday that Kaohsiung halt part of the project if safety cannot be ensured. The ministry is expected to hold a meeting with the Kaohsiung City Government to review reports on the incident tomorrow.
Under the MRT Law (大眾捷 運法), the ministry can impose a deadline for the building contractor and local government to improve construction quality. Article 38 of the law stipulates that the government can order the city government and contractors to halt part of or even the entire construction project if it is deemed to be seriously flawed and damaging to public interests.
Experts and technicians are trying to determine the causes of Monday's incident and appraising the possible risks if the excavation continues.
The city government said that residents' safety is its first priority while pursuing the goal of completing the MRT project, which promises to modernize the country's biggest port city, by 2007.
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