Kuomintang "legislators" Tong Huizhen (from left), Zeng Mingzong, Chen Yimin, and Xu Yuren held a press conference on the 5th, pointing out that the reason for the bridge breaking in Nannan'ao, Yilan, is still unclear, and the investigation report of the Tsai Administration is unknown. However, the port company never independently inspected the bridge after taking over it in 2012. Did administrative laziness lead to disaster and bureaucrats kill people? (Photo by Yao Zhiping) Image source: Taiwan's "China Times"
Yilan County The Nanfang'ao Cross-Hong Kong Bridge collapsed, killing 6 and injuring 12 for more than a month. Lin Jialong, director of the Taiwan authorities' transportation department, recently promised that "there will be no upper limit on accountability." The chairman of the port company, Wu Zongrong, has been fired, and the list of punishments submitted by the port company is limited to current personnel. The Kuomintang group asked Tsai's authorities ten times yesterday, demanding that the preliminary investigation report be released as soon as possible, and that political, legal, and administrative responsibilities be held accountable. It also called on the transportation department to not only focus on tourism data and subsidies, but also to keep the safety of the Taiwanese people in mind.
Zeng Mingzong, the chief congressman of the Kuomintang League, asked, if a major unfortunate incident occurs, when will the preliminary investigation report be released? When will the truth be known to the public? In addition, Taiwan's transportation department has collected management fees in accordance with the "law" for 20 years, but has not been responsible for bridge maintenance. It only knows how to charge fees but not on maintenance?
Zeng Mingzong said that the Nanfang'ao Bridge is a special bridge. Due to its relatively complex structure, it is required to formulate inspection and maintenance regulations according to regulations. Why did the Port Bureau and the Port Management Company not formulate inspection and maintenance regulations for the Nanfang'ao Bridge? As a result, regular inspections have become a mere formality, and since the port company took over management in 2012, it has admitted that it has never conducted independent inspections. Is it administrative laziness that leads to disasters and bureaucrats killing people?
Chen Yimin, chief deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang League, pointed out that the port company claimed that its maintenance funds for the bridge over the years were NT$17.95 million (NT$). However, how can it decide on maintenance projects without testing? What maintenance projects have been done over the years?
Chen Yimin said that the Port Authority, which owns the property rights of the cross-port bridge, said that it entrusted Jianxing University of Science and Technology to conduct inspections in 2014 and 2016. Later, it was discovered that the county inspection report did not mention the possible main cause of the broken bridge: rusted steel cables. What is the reason for the special bridge? No need to test the wire rope? Which unit accepted such a hasty test report?
Tong Huizhen, deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang League, said that the port company's maintenance and management of the commercial port terminals under its jurisdiction was corrected by Taiwan's " Supervisory Office" last year due to the lack of consistency testing and evaluation standards. She called on the transportation department's "Tourism Bureau" to not only Instead of focusing on tourism data, tourism subsidies and foreign exchange, we must take care of the traffic safety of Taiwanese people and put people's safety at the top of our minds.
Xu Yuren, deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang League, blasted that after the Tsai administration came to power, the two chairman of the port company were Wu Hongmou and Wu Zongrong, each from the "Kaohsiung Gang" and the "Tainan Gang", and neither of them had shipping expertise, criticizing the DPP. Employers only look at color and not professionalism. Such personnel arrangements will cause problems sooner or later, and the public sector will become a fat cat-paying unit. Doesn’t Su Zhenchang, the head of the administrative agency, not have to bear political responsibility?
