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Anger over Taipei
City¡¦s costly London Games trip
BUREAUCRATIC HURDLES: Officials involved in the
planning of the Taipei 2017 Universiade event are facing criticism over their
NT$2.48 million fact-finding mission
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
The Taipei City Government yesterday defended a delegation¡¦s planned visit to
the London Olympic Games amid concerns about the NT$2.48 million (US$82,000)
inspection trip, insisting that the city aimed to learn from the experience of
the English capital before hosting the Summer Universiade in 2017.
The delegation, led by Taipei Deputy Mayor Timothy Ting (¤B®x¦t), will embark on a
21-day trip to the Olympic Games in London this week to inspect the 16 events
that the 2017 Summer Universiade will also host. The delegation will also
inspect facilities and overall management of the Games, including
transportation, public security and the Athletes Village.
The inspection trip has sparked a dispute, with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (¤ý¥@°í) questioning the effectiveness of the
visit, saying that delegation is not attending the opening and closing
ceremonies of the event.
¡§The delegation did not get tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies. They
spend so much money on the trip and will watch the ceremonies in a hotel. What¡¦s
the point of wasting taxpayers¡¦ money and traveling to London only to watch the
Games on TV?¡¨ he asked.
Taipei Sports Office director Chen Liang-hui (³¯¨}½÷) said yesterday that the
delegation did not purchase tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies due
to budget issues as the ceremonies cost NT$50,000 per ticket.
Inspection of the competition events at the Olympics Games would be the priority
and the delegation would visit the Athletes Village and other facilities during
the visit and attend a forum on hosting sports events to learn more about
hosting the Universiade in 2017, Chen said.
Ting said part of the expense would be paid by using the deputy mayor¡¦s special
allowance and said the city¡¦s delegation opted not to join the Chinese Taipei
Olympic team because the purpose of the trip is to inspect facilities and the
hosting of the Games.
The city has listed a current budget of more than NT$40 billion (US$ 1.3
billion) to host the Summer Universiade in 2017, an international sporting event
for university students, with the central government responsible for shouldering
NT$340 million of the expense.
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