Farglory Land Development Co chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) yesterday challenged Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to a televised debate over the Taipei Dome impasse.
In an interview with radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻), Chao accused the Taipei City Government of imposing seven “illegal” safety standards on the Dome and said that Ko had been deceived by his officials.
He said he had not been given a chance to meet with Ko since January last year, adding that he would like to hold a televised debate with the mayor over the legitimacy of the safety standards.
Photo: CNA
He said several “influential” individuals had approached Farglory with an offer to help resolve the impasse, and that they all claimed that they did so on Ko’s behalf.
These individuals included Taipei city councilors, city officials and business executives, Chao added.
One influential businessperson claiming to have been sent by Ko visited him in March to discuss the possibility of an interested third party taking over the Taipei Dome, which paved the way for the city government’s announcement that it hoped to negotiate terms with the firm to dissolve the contract for the build-operate-transfer project, Chao said.
He declined to name the businessperson.
Chao said that if anyone doubts the validity of his claim, he could provide a document containing the four conditions he had laid down during the meeting for the proposed dissolution of contract as proof, adding that Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) confirmed that the document was received and forwarded to Ko.
Chao’s claim contradicted a city government statement that it had never asked anyone to help mediate with Farglory for a third party to take over the project.
The Farglory chairman accused Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) of having deceived Ko and attempting to stymie progress on the Dome’s construction when he announced that the city government could review the project’s safety based on four of the seven standards it imposed on Farglory even though the two parties had agreed that the review would be carried out by the Construction and Planning Agency’s Taiwan Architecture and Building Center.
He said it is the agency’s responsibility to conduct the review, and that the city had overreached its purview by holding a separate review.
Chao said he is stalwart in his resolve to finish the Dome, but that as its structure had been completed, it would be “impossible” to comply with the city’s demand that the Dome’s capacity be reduced.
In response, Lin said the decision to undertake reviews based on the four standards did not come from him, but from the agency, which last year issued two documents stating that it would only review the Dome’s fire safety, and that the city should be responsible for reviewing its readiness for disasters and contingencies.
Lin dismissed Chao’s accusation that the seven standards lack a legal basis, saying they were introduced based on the enforcement rules on urban planning review and the city’s urban design framework.
Ko was quoted by Taipei City Government spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) as saying he is open to arranging a meeting with Chao if it could help resolve the problem.
Sidney Lin said Teng would meet with Chao first to make clear the city’s stance on the Dome debacle.
He urged Farglory to address suggestions the city offered on resolving safety issues surrounding the Dome and fulfill its responsibility as the project contractor by proposing its own solutions.
He said he did not know which businessperson Chao was referring to, but declined to comment when asked whether Ko had sent lobbyists to meet Chao.
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