離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Mayor gives Farglory ‘another chance’
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je addresses the Taipei Dome dispute at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） yesterday said he had decided to give Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group （遠雄集團） “another chance” by continuing its build-operate-transfer （BOT） contract with the city government.
However, the city government retains the right to end the contract if Farglory does not act swiftly to meet legal requirements for a full resumption of construction work, Ko added.
The mayor had issued an ultimatum three months ago in an effort to press the conglomerate to finish the reviews of the complex’s safety provisions according to seven safety standards and to complete a construction license change.
Before announcing his decision at a news conference, Ko talked at length about problems that Farglory and former Taipei mayors had caused in constructing the Dome complex, and the actions taken by his administration to deal with those problems.
Farglory deviated from the approved construction blueprint, thus 16 staircases were found to be missing in a half-finished department store and movie theater, he said.
The sheer size of the Dome poses public safety risks and the choice of its location could negatively affect nearby traffic, he said.
The city spent NT$14 billion （US$447.48 million at yesterday’s exchange rate） to purchase the land for the complex, but the contract — drawn up during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s （馬英九） tenure as Taipei mayor — does not require Farglory to pay any royalties for starting development and operations on the site, which puts the city at a major disadvantage, Ko said.
“As BOT contracts are predicated on partnerships, the relationship between the city and Farglory should be built on collaboration, rather than conflict. That is the stance the city government has chosen to take — to solve, rather than create, problems,” he said.
He said that Faglory’s delivery of a letter of consent to the city government on Wednesday showed its willingness to comply with four safety standards and relevant reviews on the city’s terms.
He urged the conglomerate to complete safety reviews being undertaken by the Construction and Planning Agency’s Taiwan Architect and Building Center in a timely manner.
Farglory’s acceptance of the city’s demand that it complete the license change shows that the city had rightly insisted on following legal procedures, Ko said, lauding the conglomerate for having taken a “constructive first step” by changing its attitude.
He said Farglory’s acquiescence to the city government’s reviews of the complex showed that the city had defended its dignity and upheld its authority as the project’s law-enforcing body.
“I am aware that opinions are going to be divided on whether or not the contract is dissolved. However, I believe that indecision would have been the worst decision,” Ko said.
He said the law and public safety are the overarching principles he would follow when approaching the project, adding that he would assume full responsibility for the future of the complex.
He pleaded with Taipei residents to support his decision to give the complex “a chance of rebirth.”
Asked whether the city had “gone easy” on Farglory, given his statement in June that the conglomerate must clear the license change by Wednesday to salvage the contract,” Ko said that since Farglory is willing to move ahead with the safety reviews on the city’s terms, he had decided to grant it “one last chance.”
Asked whether the city would insist on its demand that Farglory reduce the complex’s capacity by 50,000 and commercial space by 16,528.9 square meters; Ko said he would require Farglory to adhere as closely to the demand as possible.
He said that commercial space and capacity are correlated, as they can be roughly represented in inverse proportions, meaning that if Farglory agrees to cut more commercial space, it will not have to cut as much capacity as the city had asked it to.
On whether the city had considered demolishing the Dome, Ko said that all possibilities had been taken into account, and that the city decided to adopt the option that would be in the public’s best interests with the lowest potential cost.
Taipei Construction Management Office vice chief engineer Yu Chi-hsueh （虞積學） said the four safety standards adopted by the city government would be incorporated in reviews conducted under the city’s urban design review and environmental impact assessment frameworks.
Farglory spokesman Jacky Yang （楊舜欽） thanked the city for responding positively to the group’s commitments.
He said Farglory would apply for a license change by delivering the necessary documents to the city government for review, but raised doubts about the legal basis for the seven safety standards.
The conglomerate is covering buildings in the Dome complex with curtain walls and preparing materials for work on improving the Dome’s integrity, as demanded by a Taipei High Administrative Court ruling, he said.
Huang Hsu-tien （黃旭田） said that if Farglory is not sincere about resolving the Dome debacle, the city could still exercise its right to dissolve the contract.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
