Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) brushed off his and the city’s requests for details on Taipei Dome construction safety plans, providing only perfunctory answers, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Wednesday.
“From start to finish [Farglory] has been extremely arrogant,” Ko said, adding that the firm’s “shoot me” attitude was “unacceptable.”
The mayor said he was “anxious” about potential damage to the historic Songshan Tobacco Factory adjacent to the Dome site and that Farglory should act in a “responsible” manner.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
When the city asked Farglory to explain how it was trying to minimize potential damage to the Songshan site during construction of the Dome, the company submitted a 300-page report on how it would repair the Songshan site after the Dome was completed, making him wonder if the firm had even paid attention to the city’s questions, he said.
Farglory’s response was enough to “drive anyone bananas,” he said.
He also said he saw no contradiction between the city’s order that the company halt construction at the site and his previous comments that work should not be stopped before the Dome’s foundations were completed for safety reasons.
“I hope that you are able to finish the foundations as soon as possible, but you have to state clearly just what you plan to do, rather than ignoring me and working at your leisure,” the mayor said.
He also said that the firm had extended the target date for finishing the foundation work several times and it was not clear exactly what the final date would be.
Asked if the city would consider ending Farglory’s contract if the company refused to provide detailed safety plans, Ko said that he hoped the firm would not be so arrogant.
His greatest concern was the safety of city residents, he said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to