Sat, Jan 07, 2023 page2

• Games canceled at ballpark over industrial waste

  • By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
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  Plans to hold warm-up games for the national baseball team at the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium were yesterday scrapped after industrial waste was found to be buried under the turf, prompting local officials to request an investigation into the origin of the waste.

  Disposed electrical cords and pieces of brick were on Thursday found at a depth of 15cm to 20cm, raising concern over player safety at the ballpark, which was reopened after renovations in July last year.

  Newly elected Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) of the Taiwan People’s Party yesterday said that no warm-up games for the World Baseball Classic would be held at the ballpark, which was slated to host at least one Taiwan game.

  

  President Tsai Ing-wen, fifth left, and then-Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien, fourth left, attend the reopening of the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium on July 22 last year.

  Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times

  The inspection was held by Hsinchu City Government officials, who said that a contractor involved in the construction of the ballpark was responsible for the irregular disposal of the industrial waste.

  Ahead of the inspection, a supervisor at the company tried to “destroy the evidence,” the officials told reporters attending the inspection and showed them photographs of a person apparently picking up pieces of waste from the turf.

  Kao and members of her administration said that the disposal was yet another scandal involving the ballpark, at which most scheduled games were last year postponed over its infield dirt being too soft and other issues posing safety risks to players.

  The renovation continued after the initial opening date.

  The issues are the result of negligence and substandard work, Kao and her administration said, urging an investigation into alleged malfeasance on the part of former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) and other Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members involved in the project.

  Lin yesterday said that he would support any investigation into the issues, adding that those responsible should be punished.

  However, contractors were responsible for the renovation and the stadium’s operator is responsible for the ballpark’s maintenance, not the city government, Lin said.

  “Work on the ballpark is not yet finished, and if my successor and her administration find defects, they should look into the contracts signed with the city government to find out which company is responsible,” he said. “They should ask them to make the repairs.”

  Instead of accusing him, Kao should respond to allegations that she embezzled public funds and committed other offenses while serving as legislator before she took office in Hsinchu last month, he said.

  “Kao must not use issues at the ballpark as tools for political manipulation. She should not try to shift attention from her own legal problems,” he said.

  “Now she is in charge of solving the city’s problems. She should tell the public when the ballpark can reopen, and, if changes are needed, when they would be completed,” he said.

  “Hsinchu residents expect an improved ballpark after the repairs,” sports pundit Hsu Wei-chih (許維智) said yesterday. “Hsinchu residents want to attend games again.”

  Before the initial renovation, the stadium was widely known as “Taiwan’s worst ballpark for professional games,” as it had not seen a major upgrade in more than 40 years after its inauguration in 1976, Hsu said.

  The ballpark, alongside Taipei’s Tianmu Stadium, was in 2019 selected as the home stadiums for the Wei Chuan Dragons upon their return to the CPBL. The Hsinchu City Government later that year finalized the NT$1.2 billion (US$39.1 million at the current exchange rate) plan for the stadium’s renovation and commissioned Ting Ho Co — a subsidiary of Ting Hsin Group, which owns the franchise — with the execution.

  The Hsinchu Baseball Stadium is operated by Dragons Baseball Stadium Management Co.

  The ballpark also includes a new underground carpark, which cost NT$320 million.
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