Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) yesterday accused the Taipei City Government of inappropriately favoring the Taiwan Design Center during bidding for World Design Capital organizer, saying that high thresholds excluded other bidders that were interested in organizing the international event, which they said lacks substance.
The event was designed to showcase Taipei’s artistic touch and creative industry.
Of the NT$8.33 billion (US$253.56 million) former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) administration budgeted for the event, the center alone won bids totaling more than NT$286.6 million, which account for 70 percent of the NT$410 million already expended, the councilors said in a joint statement.
The center is set to obtain NT$103 million to organize promotional events out of an additional NT$295.3 million Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) administration has proposed to fund the event next year, which was contracted out by the Department of Cultural Affairs as a “special project,” they said.
Hsu said the International Design Gala award ceremony, which is to be hosted next year by the center at the W Hotel in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), is expected to cost the city NT$7.27 million. A budget proposal submitted by the department shows that the center has asked for NT$1.88 million to finance decorations for the event.
Hsu questioned the need to host the ceremony at the W Hotel, as there are numerous other options available at significantly lower costs, including the Mandarin Oriental Taipei, at which the city government can use the banquet hall 20 times per year for free under an agreement with the hotel’s management.
The city government proposed to pay the center NT$1.07 million for a banquet’s decorations, an event that is expected to cost a total of NT$2.07 million, Hsu said.
She called on the department to reduce the number of forums and exhibitions and to focus more on boosting international publicity for Taiwanese artists.
Hsu questioned whether the center’s board members — half of which are government officials — have managed to give the center a competitive edge over competing firms, as it has won bids for government projects totaling NT$1.5 billion since 2011.
Chien said unrestrained budget planning was the main reason behind the World Design Capital’s expenses.
Chien asked why the city government apparently favored the center in limited bidding, saying that this likely drove up costs, as part of the expenditures most likely resulted from the center outsourcing work it promised to the city government to other firms.
She criticized the city’s handling of the event, saying that the majority of Taipei residents are unimpressed.
In response, Department Deputy Commissioner Lee Li-chu (李麗珠) said residents unimpressed with the event “need to develop better taste.”
Separately yesterday, when asked to comment on Lee’s remarks, Ko said: “I am one of those residents.”
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