Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday accused the Taipei City Government of shoddy construction work at a roadbed project near the MRT Wenshan-Neihu line’s Songshan Airport Station, and urged the government to improve the condition of the construction immediately.
During an inspection at the construction site, which is located on Minzu E Road between MRT Songshan Airport Station and Zhongshan Junior School Station, DPP Taipei City councilors Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄), Huang Hsian-chun (黃向群) and Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁) asked workers from the Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) to dig a hole in the wall. Trash, including cans and bottles, were found inside the grouting of the wall.
“No wonder the Wenhu Line has experienced so many malfunctions since it began operations. The city government used trash to fill in a wall. Who knows what else it used at other sites along the line,” Chuang said.
PHOTO: CNA
Liu and Huang joined Chuang in questioning the quality of the line’s construction and demanded that the city government resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“Some local residents have complained about the construction work. How much longer do [MRT] passengers have to fear taking the MRT?” Liu asked.
Huang said the DORTS had known about the problem since March, but failed to repair the wall until yesterday when they demanded the department solve the problem.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) later promised to have the city’s Department of Government Ethics look into the factors behind the shoddy construction.
“The quality of construction projects in Taipei City should be the best and I will not accept such poor quality construction work,” he said.
Chen Yao-wei (陳耀維), a division chief at the rapid transit department, said the problematic construction site was a temporary office for construction workers and would not affect the passengers, as it was not along the route of the line.
“We take the quality of the MRT construction and the safety of passengers very seriously and the construction site the councilors are talking about is not part of MRT buildings,” he said.
Chen acknowledged the department’s negligence in construction and promised to ask the contractor to redo the grouting within three weeks.
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