The government is to launch a comprehensive inspection of all major transportation projects to determine if officials had accepted bribes from the French company Alstom, Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said yesterday.
The Levallois-Perret-based firm had agreed to pay US$772 million to the US earlier this week after pleading guilty to bribery charges following an investigation by the US Department of Justice.
The US investigation showed that between 2000 and 2010, Alstom had paid more than US$75 million in bribes to secure US$4 billion in contracts around the world, including in Egypt, Indonesia and Taiwan.
US Deputy Attorney General James Cole said on Monday that the bribery scheme “was astounding in its breadth, its brazenness and its worldwide consequences.”
Taiwan’s alleged involvement in the Alstom’s bribery scheme was brought up by lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review construction funds for the high-speed rail system.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), who presided over the budget review session, said that reports showed that Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and Taipei Rapid Transport Corp (TRTC) had conducted business with Alstom in the past.
The VAL256-model trains deployed on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu Line (Line 1) use electric, mechanical and signaling systems produced by Alstom, while Taipower uses Alstom’s turbine engines for its thermal power plants, she said.
Yeh Yi-jin said that she has evidence that Alstom was involved in the construction of the nation’s Airport Rail.
She added that a former low-level civil servant in the TRTC was hired by Alstom to work in the French company’s branch office.
She questioned whether officials involved in Airport Rail project might have also accepted bribes from the French multinational company.
In response, Yeh Kuang-shih said that the ministry would conduct a comprehensive inspection of all transport projects under its supervision.
The Bureau of High Speed Rail said the Marubani Corp secured the overall contract for the Airport Rail’s signaling system, which then outsourced the contract of installing the system to Siemens. Alstom is not involved in the project.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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