A “problematic” third bidding process for the Wei-wu-ying Center for the Arts in Greater Kaohsiung could be another scandal in the making, in the wake of the controversy surrounding the rock musical Dreamers (夢想家), lawmakers said yesterday.
L&K Engineering Co won the special-equipment construction bid, which forms part of the NT$12 billion (US$400 million) project, off a base price of NT$1.38 billion in the second bidding process after being disqualified in the first bidding process, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) and Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) told a press conference.
The lawmakers said personal relationships could have played a role in the bidding results, as the seven members of the bid review committee either have personal connections to key members of the Taiwan Association of Theater Technology or are members of the association, which was founded by L&K representative Chang Yi-yu (張翼宇).
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
L&K Engineering had no previous experience in the construction of cultural projects, Chiu said.
The bid could have been tailor-made for a specific bidder, because L&K did not re-enter the process and win the tender until the center disclosed the identities of members of the review committee after the first bidding process failed, he said.
Chen Shan-pao (陳善報), director of the center’s preparatory office, said L&K Engineering was ruled ineligible in the first bidding process because of documentation issues, but it was eligible for the second bid after it submitted the required documents.
The names of the committee members were kept confidential until the first bid failed, he said.
He added that it was legal to retain six of seven committee members for the second bidding process.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
RSS