The Taiwan Construction Arbitration Association yesterday ruled that the Taipei City Government should have granted Farglory Group (遠雄集團) an additional 110 days past the the build-operate-transfer project deadline, after it was denied a construction extension for the Taipei Dome complex.
Farglory said that the ruling proves that it was not at fault for failing to complete the construction before the date stated in the contract it has with the city government.
Farglory said that it in December 2014, it applied for an extension so that it would have time to dispose of waste from construction work, but that the city denied the request.
The company said that it hopes the construction period can be further extended by 1582 days.
Farglory said that it has filed another arbitration regarding a 882-day extension after the city’s Urban Planning Commission and the Environmental Impact Assessment committee demanded that it change the Dome’s construction methods as well as its specifications and design so it would conform to “green” structural standards.
These requirements added NT$15 billion (US$459.77 million) to the cost of the project, it said.
The city government said that the ruling cemented that Farglory breached the contract by failing to complete work by the deadline.
Even with a 110-day extension, which would have put the completion date back to April 17 last year, Farglory still would not have been able to meet construction deadlines and obtain an operation permit for the Dome, the city government said.
The company was still building the Dome in May last year when the project was suspended, it said.
Farglory committed a serious violation when it allowed the construction project to fall behind schedule and the city government would continue negotiating with the firm over public safety issues caused by the Dome, the city government said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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