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Hau to quit if guilty in overpass
scandal
ON THE OFFENSIVE:The Taipei mayor criticized prosecutors
for talking about their investigation in public after they alleged that e-mails
might tie officials to the contractor
BY MO YAN-CHIH AND RICH CHANG / STAFF
REPORTERS
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) put his political career on the line yesterday
afternoon, promising to resign if he was found to have been involved in the
city’s Xinsheng Overpass reconstruction project scandal.
Hau made the pledge in an interview with Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) radio
amid snowballing allegations linking high-ranking Taipei City Government
officials to the purchase of allegedly overpriced flowers for the project.
“My integrity will withstand any test. I will offer my resignation immediately
if the evidence collected by the prosecutors proves I am guilty in the Xinsheng
Overpass case,” Hau told the BCC.
His remarks came in the wake of comments by Taipei District prosecutors earlier
yesterday alleging Taipei City Secretariat Director Yang Hsi-an (楊錫安) contacted
the owner of a construction company before the firm won a tender for the
Xinsheng Overpass reconstruction project. They said they suspect Yang might also
be involved in the purchase of allegedly overpriced flowers for the project.
Prosecutors said the city government conducted public tenders in April 2008 for
the overpass project, but because several construction firms offered bids above
the floor price, the tender failed six times.
Before the seventh round was held, Yang allegedly contacted Pan Chun-jung (潘俊榮),
owner of Kung Sing Engineering Corp (工信工程公司), by e-mail, prosecutors said,
adding Kung Sing later won the bid.
The city government’s floor price rose from NT$1.62 billion (US$52.6 million) in
the first round of bidding to NT$1.95 billion in the seventh round, which
prosecutors said made them suspect that some officials might have conspired with
the company in boosting the prices for flower purchases.
Prosecutors said the former director of the city’s Department of New
Construction, Huang Hsi-hsun (黃錫薰), who was detained last month, also reportedly
contacted Pan via e-mail before the final round.
Investigators on Tuesday raided 11 locations, including Yang’s office and
residence. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office told reporters later that it
had seized a number of documents in the search, but did not intend to summon
Yang or anyone else for questioning because Yang was not a suspect or defendant
in the case.
Yang is the most senior city official to have been investigated so far, sparking
media speculation that Hau was likely to be the next target of investigators,
since Yang is in charge of the mayor’s official business.
Hau has repeatedly stressed his respect for the prosecutors’ investigation, but
he took a more combative stance early yesterday.
He criticized prosecutors for discussing the overpass investigation in public as
he stepped up the efforts to defend city officials and prevent the scandal from
affecting the Taipei mayoral election next month.
“Prosecutors have violated the principle of not disclosing any information on an
ongoing investigation, and their moves could have a big impact on my election. I
deeply regret what they’ve done,” Hau said.
He defended both Yang and himself and called for the probe to be wrapped up
quickly.
“I respect the probe, and will be cooperative with the investigation. The most
important thing is for the prosecutors to clarify the truth as soon as
possible,” he said.
The mayor denied Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chuang
Ruei-hsiung’s (莊瑞雄) accusation that he had passed a note to Chen Chih-sheng
(陳智盛), a former section chief in the construction department, and gave him
instructions on how to answer questions about the overpass project.
“I did not write Chen a note, and the prosecutors can prove it by examining the
handwriting. I don’t understand why they haven’t clarify the matter yet,” Hau
said.
Hau filed a defamation suit against Chuang on Monday, after which the DPP
councilor filed a suit against Hau, insisting the mayor had written the note
during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council in August.
The note allegedly asks Chen to rephrase his comments to accusations the city
overpaid for plants from “simple negligence” to “administrative negligence.”
The note was among the documents collected during the investigation. Discovery
of the note led prosecutors to suspect that top city officials were involved in
the case. The city government said the note was written by Chao Kuang-chung
(趙光中), a section chief at the Taipei Secretariat Office.
The controversy over the procurement contracts arose on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 when
two DPP city councilors said the contracted price for flowers used to spruce up
the overpass was unreasonably high.
Hau’s administration did not take any action until a week later, when it
punished the responsible officials and launched an investigation into the
matter.
DPP city councilors also filed a lawsuit against Hau on Aug. 26, accusing him of
negligence.
Hau has previously admitted that the problems with the city’s procurement
contracts have dampened his popularity and clouded his re-election campaign.
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