Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday dismissed speculation about the timing of the resignation of Department of Urban Development commissioner Ting Yu-chun (丁育群) amid the ongoing investigation on corruption in the Taipei Twin Towers project, and stressed that the city government would cooperate with the probe.
Hau on Monday approved the resignation of Ting, a member of the 17-member review committee for the project, and invited National Chengchi University land economics professor Ben Tai-ming (邊泰銘) to take over the post.
Ting, 60, said he had offered his resignation in 2011 due to poor health and was determined to resign this year after he was diagnosed with liver cancer in January. However, his resignation has sparked speculation he may have been involved in the scandal.
Hau expressed regret over the speculation and said that the public should not jump to conclusions before the results of the investigation are announced.
“The preliminary investigation found he was not involved in the scandal. Speculation [about his role in the project] has hurt commissioner Ting’s reputation, forcing him to discuss his disease in public,” he said.
Ting joined Hau’s team in 2008, and will resume his post as an urban development professor at Chinese Culture University in September.
Prosecutors detained Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lai Su-ju (賴素如) over her alleged role in the bribery scandal. She allegedly agreed to help a multinational consortium win the bid for the Taipei Twin Towers project in exchange for a kickback of NT$10 million (US$334,700).
Taipei City Department of Finance Commissioner Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) was summoned by prosecutors last week to explain his role in the project amid allegations that he had leaked the list of project review committee members to the developer.
Amid speculation that top city officials and more Taipei City councilors may be involved in the bribery scandal, Hau said the city government would respect the investigation, but prosecutors should speed up the probe and put an end to rumors about the case.
“We expect the prosecutors to find out the truth about the scandal and conclude the investigation as soon as possible. On the other hand, we urge the public not to jump into conclusions and we do not want any city officials to be hurt by groundless speculation,” he said.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
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