Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) and Independent Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) on Monday formally accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and former Taipei City Government secretary-general Chang Jer-yang (張哲揚) of trying to illegally benefit Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group.
Chien and Lin accused the city government of not only overlooking Farglory’s contravention of Article 97 of the Building Technical Regulations (建築技術規則) — which calls for firebreaks around fire escapes — and Article 127 — which should prevent the Taipei Dome hosting concerts — but also helping it resolve the issues.
The city government was aware of the issues as early as 2017 and asked Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) to intervene, but to no avail, as Farglory protested the difficulty of carrying out the city’s requests, the councilors said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
When Chang last year met with Farglory vice chairman Frank Chao (趙文嘉), Chang decided that the contravention of Article 97 could be addressed when the project obtains a user’s license, the councilors said.
Chang also allowed Farglory to circumvent Article 127 by applying to host concerts on a per-event basis, the councilors said.
In September last year, Chang said that the company’s failure to enact a fully simulated evacuation model the previous month should not be attributed to a “system hang” as reported by the local media, and suggested that Farglory disabled some of the original parameters for the computer simulation, resulting in the project being approved in October, they said.
The city government has set a bad precedent by allowing Farglory to make “corrections” before issuing a license, Lin said.
Chien said that the city government’s about-face in its treatment of the project could mean that an under-the-table deal might have taken place.
Lawyer Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴) said it is interesting that the order to suspend the project’s construction, which was issued in 2015, cited the city government’s claim that the fire escapes should be considered primary structures.
Ko’s reversal of his stance that Farglory must observe the regulations could be regarded as a potential contravention of the Criminal Code for “being suspect of benefiting others or themselves when in a supervisory position,” Chan said.
Ko yesterday said that his administration would not be defined by the Taipei Dome project, nor would the project be allowed to become a “festering sore,” adding that he welcomes any scrutiny of the project.
“At least I am resolving the issue,” Ko said, adding that all documents, files and recordings on the project were uploaded to the Internet for review.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-tzu
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