The Taipei City Government will form a negotiation task force to settle problems in the Taipei Dome construction project with the contractor, Farglory Group (遠雄集團).
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government received formal corrective measures from the Control Yuan yesterday, and the commissioner of Taipei City’s Law and Regulation Commission, Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元), would head the task force to negotiate with the company in an attempt to fix the 39 problems presented by the Control Yuan.
“We will contact Farglory and start the negotiation process immediately to fix the problems and conform with the Control Yuan’s demands,” Hau said at Taipei City Hall. “We do not rule out the possibility of ending the contract with Farglory if it refuses to cooperate.”
IMAGE COURTESY OF FARGLORY GROUP
The Control Yuan said the city government failed to refer the revised construction plan to its review commission for approval, and that demanded the city government and the contractor fix 39 problems with the project, including changing subcontractors and the design of the stadium, as well as expanding the building from three stories to four to create more space for department stores.
The city government was given two months to revise the contract according to the corrective measures and present a report to the Control Yuan.
Hau said the corrective measures presented the city government with an opportunity to reexamine the project, but stressed that the city government would not consider alternate plans for the land before the contract issue is resolved.
Yeh said one of the demands from the city government would be asking Farglory to replace the subcontractors.
The negotiation team would include Yeh, commissioner of Administrative Appeals Commission Chen Ye-sin (陳業鑫) and executive secretary of the Taipei Dome construction project, Chang Kang-wei (張綱維).
Yeh said the team would contact Farglory on Monday to start the negotiation process, and said the city government was confident the task force could settle the issue.
Yeh declined to discuss details of the negotiation, and refused to comment on Farglory chairman Chao Teng-hsiung’s (趙藤雄) threat to ask for compensation if the city government decided to end the contract.
“We have been following the contract and doing everything according to the regulations. I am confident that the city government would gain the upper hand [if the case was brought to court],” he said.
The Control Yuan’s probe into the project stemmed from complaints filed by environmentalists who oppose the removal of more than 700 old trees to make way for the construction, which will occupy about 18 hectares on the former site of the Songshan Tobacco Factory in Xinyi District (信義).
Construction of the Dome, which would feature an indoor 40,000-seat stadium, hotels, department stores, a shopping center and office building, had originally been scheduled to begin earlier this year.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
RSS