The increasing number of municipal construction projects that are to be completed by November has raised concerns from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors who say that the city government rushed the projects to use them as campaign tools for Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) ahead of the Taipei mayoral election.
Of the 350 major municipal construction projects completed during Hau’s four-year term, 40 percent will be completed at the end of this year, according to information provided by Taipei City’s Secretariat Office.
A closer look at the information shows that of the 140 projects due to be completed this year, 41 percent are to be finished in the three months prior to the November mayoral election.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
“As the Taipei mayoral election approaches, the number of construction projects to be completed has increased. Obviously the city government adjusted the completion dates of the projects to give Hau the opportunity to promote them ahead of the election,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) said.
The sports center in Wenshan (文山) District, for example, was launched last month. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Hau both attended the opening ceremony, and Ma, a former Taipei mayor, used the occasion to tout Hau’s performance and boost his support at the event, she said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) and Chou Wei-you (周威佑) joined Wu in questioning the city government about the rushing or delaying of projects, and expressed concerns about the quality of the projects.
Hsu criticized the city government for its handling of several problematic major municipal projects, including the Maokong Gondola, the Wenshan-Neihu MRT Line, the Xinsheng Overpass project and the Taipei International Flora Expo.
Hsu also urged the Hau team to ensure construction quality is not sacrificed for the sake of Hau’s personal election campaign.
“Mayor Hau should skip all the ribbon-cutting ceremonies and instead use the time to oversee the construction projects,” she said.
Huang Ming-tsai (黃銘材), chief secretary of Taipei City’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, said all major construction projects took about three to four years to complete, and any adjustments of the completion date, especially construction delays, would have to go through the commission and cross-departmental meetings for approval.
He said the city government followed municipal procedures for the supervision of major construction projects. He added that it’s not easy for departments or contractors to change completion dates and denied any connection between the construction projects and the mayoral election.
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