Taoyuan prosecutors said they will probe whether foul play was involved in the construction of a key pumping station and the cleaning of a reservoir which figure prominently in the county's ongoing water supply woes.
Prosecutors are eyeing the construction of Shihmen Reservoir's Second Pumping Station (
"The malfunction of the recently completed reservoir's second pumping station may mean that bribery and inferior materials were involved in the construction of the plumping plant," said Chiang Kuei-chang (姜貴昌), a spokesman for the Taoyuan Prosecutors' Office yesterday.
Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) has said that the turbidity of the water in the reservoir has hampered the normal purification process, and that water supplies will have to continue on a rotational basis for the approximately 600,000 households in Taoyuan County.
Taoyuan prosecutors have received written accusations and have launched an investigation on the possible scandal, Chiang added. Prosecutors said the NT$100 million (US$3.14 million) pumping station was built last September to ensure normal water supplies during post-typhoon periods.
The plant was completed in May.
However, when Typhoon Haitang smashed through the nation on July 20, and the plant was geared up, half of the 10 pumping machines did not work.
The breakdown of the machines led directly to the current water supply problems in southern Taoyuan, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said it was ridiculous for the high-cost plant to have broken down the very first time it was used.
Written statements received by the prosecutors' office alleged that shady dealings were involved in the plant's construction. Prosecutors noted that the pumping plant was built by the state-run Taiwan Water Supply Corp (TWSC).
Prosecutors added that the cleaning of a key reservoir was shoddy. They said the contractors hired to clean the reservoir should have swept away mud, silt and debris that had settled in the water.
But instead they appear to have simply extracted sand and sold it for use in construction -- leaving mud and other muck in the reservoir. Prosecutors said they would investigate whether construction workers broke the law.
Water supply problems began after Typhoon Matsa, which passed through Taiwan last Friday, brought torrential rains and brought more silt and debris into the reservoir.
Some have charged that the real root of the problem is unsuitable development of hilly terrain in Taoyuan over the past decade.
The water supply problem first cropped up last August when Typhoon Aere hit the nation. At that time, water supplies to households in most of Taoyuan were cut off for 19 days.
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