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Court probes, detains
two former DORTS officials
TIP OF ICEBERG? DPP legislators yesterday panned
the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou for alleged links to possible
corruption at the MeHAS City project
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The MeHAS housing project near
Xiaobitan MRT Station in Xindian District, New Taipei City, is pictured on July
8 this year. The developer, Radium Life Tech Co, has given its assurance that it
will deliver all the units to buyers smoothly despite a burgeoning scandal
surrounding the development.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The Taipei District Court yesterday
granted a request by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to detain two
former Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) officials for
their roles in a possible corruption case related to the “Mass Rapid
Transportation (MRT) Xiaobitan Station Joint Development” project.
Following a hearing of three hours, the court decided to detain former director
of the DORTS’ development branch, Kao Chia-nung (高嘉濃), and former DORTS section
chief Wang Ming-tsang (王銘藏) to prevent collusion on testimony.
In 2006, the department and Radium Life Tech Co (日勝生) signed a contract to
jointly carry out the development project, also known as the MeHAS City (美河市)
project, in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Xindian District (新店).
The project sits on 28,000 ping (9.3 hectares) of land along the Xiaobitan
riverside and is valued at NT$300 billion (US$9.98 billion).
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said the department is suspected of
forging a property value estimation document, so it would underestimate the
Taipei City Government’s stake in the construction project and overestimate
Radium Life’s stake, which cost the city government an estimated NT$10 billion
in losses.
The MeHAS City project began in 2006 when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was
Taipei mayor.
Noting that a number of former DORTS officials were investigated on Tuesday for
their roles in the possible corruption case related to the MeHAS City project,
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers earlier yesterday lambasted the Ma
administration for its connection to the matter and preferential treatment of
large corporations, and its disregard of the interests of the public.
“The potential scandal is just one of many cases under the Ma administration
that involved fraudulent data conducted by government agencies, bloated projects
and budgets, and administrative actions that favored developers,” DPP Legislator
Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) told a news conference held at the Legislative Yuan in
Taipei.
Citing another case as an example, the lawmaker said the Construction and
Planning Agency was found to have submitted fraudulent population data for the
Taoyuan Aerotropolis project in Taoyuan County. The same agency reportedly
favored developers over local residents in the property distribution of
affordable housing near A7 station in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).
“Both were listed in Ma’s i-Taiwan 12 public construction projects — the
backbone of Ma’s presidential campaign pledge last year,” Gao said.
These projects not only violated the Constitution, which allows the
expropriation of private property only for the purpose of the public good, but
also benefited the developers and government officials rather than the public,
DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said.
“If other controversial cases were included, such as the one in Miaoli County’s
Dapu (大埔), I would say that we should pay close attention to the prevalent
corruption in this administration and its close ties with the rich,” DPP
Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said.
The Ma administration’s mentality has turned both the government and Taiwanese
into losers, with developers the only winners, he added.
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