Sat, Jun 03, 2006 page2

• THSRC files lawsuit over Science Park allegations

  • By Shelley Shan and Flora Wang / STAFF REPORTERS
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  Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) filed a lawsuit this week against the director of the clinical research division of the National Health Research Institutes, Su Ih-ren (蘇益仁), and former KMT legislator Wang Chung-yu (王鍾渝), for slanderous remarks about the company's role in the development of the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park.

  Earlier this week Su said that the government's plan to build the park was primarily to coordinate with the development of THSRC's station in northern Hsin-chu.

  He also said that the project has turned into a "black hole" as it has proved unprofitable to date and that Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), the president of the Academia Sinica, was partly responsible as he was the coordinator of the case.

  In response to Su's claim, Lee said he was not involved in the decision-making process behind the scheme and demanded an apology from Su.

  THSRC chairman Nita Ing (殷琪) said on Thursday that the company did not benefit from the construction of the park.

  The real problem, she said, extends from rivalries between different factions in the medical field.

  The purpose of the legal action is to present and clarify the facts, she added.

  Su said earlier that the establishment of the science would help finance THSRC's operation.

  Wang, on the other hand, claimed that the National Science Council purchased the land from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) for NT$4 billion (US$125 million).

  The ministry, however, did not list the revenue on the year-end balance sheet, he said, and claimed the proceeds might go to THSRC's account.

  Independent Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) yesterday rebutted Su's charge that the establishment of the science park profited the THSRC.

  Lin said he believes Su did so to help the person in charge of the preparation of the park who is reluctant to yield the power.

  Lin called Su's claim "a product of struggling for the authority to lead the case."

  Meanwhile, the launch of Taiwan's first bullet train could be delayed after lawmakers released records about subsidence discovered in track sections in Miaoli County.

  Yesterday the company invited lawmakers of the legislature's transportation committee and the media to personally examine some of the sections in question.

  The company said 35 instances of subsidence had been detected and repaired. The company will continue to monitor the tracks and promised to improve the situation before he train is scheduled to begin operating in October.

  "The train is our bread and butter," said Ted Chia (賈先德), "We will not intentionally make the train unsafe."

  Wu Fu-hsiang (吳福祥), director general of MOTC's bureau of high speed rail, said the contract signed later between the high speed rail bureau and THSRC dictated that the company has to gradually increase the number of trains and passengers within six months of the facility opening.

  The contract also said that both parties have to set a definite date at some point during the six months, after which the company will run 60 trains a day.
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