Lawmakers yesterday asked the Ministry of Transportation and Communications by the end of this month to submit an investigation report on a five-hour power outage at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday last week.
Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) first told local media that the blackout, which mainly disrupted operations at Terminal 2, was caused by a tripped circuit.
However, an investigation by the Aviation Police Bureau found it was caused by two temporary construction workers who allegedly tampered with electric cables in non-restricted areas at the airport.
Photo: CNA
Police quoted the workers as saying that they had intended to steal and sell the cables.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee asked why anyone would risk their life cutting high-voltage electric cables and then leave the hydraulic cable cutter at the crime scene.
“The incident shows that anyone who intends to cripple the airport’s operations can learn how different systems work by working as a temp at the airport for three months,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) asked why the contractor working on construction at Terminal 2 would hire a temporary worker who had been released from prison on medical parole.
That the temporary workers were able to freely access the construction site even during non-construction hours showed that TIAC’s management of contractors is as loose as the Taiwan Railways Administration’s, which resulted in a fatal Taroko Express train derailment last year, he said.
The power outage occurred despite the fact that TIAC budgets NT$280 million (US$9.78 million) annually to hire a private security firm to ensure the airport’s safety, he said.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said he found it strange that the suspects would steal electric cables that had been installed, but left cables lying on the ground untouched.
“It is possible that they deliberately caused the power outage so that the public would lose faith in the government. National security officials should be involved in the investigation of the incident to ascertain whether the perpetrators were sent by China,” he said.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said that security personnel should have quickly spotted the crime as they patrolled the airport.
The airport is part of Taiwan’s key infrastructure, and the incident exposed that its power system can easily be tampered with by outsiders, he said.
TIAC has been asked to enhance its management of contactors, increase the frequency of security patrols and protect electric cables, he said.
Acting TIAC chairman Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) said that electric cables at the airport are approximately 400km long, adding that the company is planning to replace 200km of cables by next year.
TIAC is building two power substations, which would serve as backup power systems if the current system is down, he said.
Apart from holding the contractor responsible for the power outage, TIAC would also improve its inspections of temporary workers, he said.
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