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DPP links projects to mayoral election
By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Sep 09, 2010, Page 3
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City
councilor candidates Tung Chung-yan, far right, and Chiang Chih-ming, second
right, perform a skit outside Taipei City Hall yesterday satirizing Taipei
Mayor Hau Lung-bin¡¦s woes over the inflated prices of flowers for the 2010
Taipei International Flora Expo.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The increasing number of municipal construction projects that are to be
completed by November has raised concerns from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Taipei City councilors who say that the city government rushed the projects to
use them as campaign tools for Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (°qÀsÙy) ahead of the
Taipei mayoral election.
Of the 350 major municipal construction projects completed during Hau¡¦s
four-year term, 40 percent will be completed at the end of this year, according
to information provided by Taipei City¡¦s Secretariat Office.
A closer look at the information shows that of the 140 projects due to be
completed this year, 41 percent are to be finished in the three months prior to
the November mayoral election.
¡§As the Taipei mayoral election approaches, the number of construction projects
to be completed has increased. Obviously the city government adjusted the
completion dates of the projects to give Hau the opportunity to promote them
ahead of the election,¡¨ DPP Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (§d«äº½) said.
The sports center in Wenshan (¤å¤s) District, for example, was launched last
month. President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) and Hau both attended the opening ceremony,
and Ma, a former Taipei mayor, used the occasion to tout Hau¡¦s performance and
boost his support at the event, she said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (®}¨Î«C) and Chou Wei-you (©P«Â¦ö) joined Wu
in questioning the city government about the rushing or delaying of projects,
and expressed concerns about the quality of the projects.
Hsu criticized the city government for its handling of several problematic major
municipal projects, including the Maokong Gondola, the Wenshan-Neihu MRT Line,
the Xinsheng Overpass project and the Taipei International Flora Expo.
Hsu also urged the Hau team to ensure construction quality is not sacrificed for
the sake of Hau¡¦s personal election campaign.
¡§Mayor Hau should skip all the ribbon-cutting ceremonies and instead use the
time to oversee the construction projects,¡¨ she said.
Huang Ming-tsai (¶À»Ê§÷), chief secretary of Taipei City¡¦s Research, Development
and Evaluation Commission, said all major construction projects took about three
to four years to complete, and any adjustments of the completion date,
especially construction delays, would have to go through the commission and
cross-departmental meetings for approval.
He said the city government followed municipal procedures for the supervision of
major construction projects. He added that it¡¦s not easy for departments or
contractors to change completion dates and denied any connection between the
construction projects and the mayoral election.
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