A political furore has erupted in Taiwan that threatens the political future of premier Frank Hsieh following a riot in August by about 300 Thai workers building the US$5.6bn Kaohsiung metro.
The disturbances on 21 August were a protest against poor living conditions and have already cost the jobs of four senior officials in Kaohsiung. Hsieh, who was mayor of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan when the metro contract was awarded in 2001, was repeatedly asked to justify the use of a build-own-operate concession contract used to award the deal.
The franchise was awarded to Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation, headed by China Steel, for the construction of two metro lines totalling about 43km and mostly built underground using bored tunnelling and cut-and-cover techniques. The running tunnels have a diameter of 5.6m. Huapan Manpower Consultant and Management was subcontracted to provide accommodation for the Thai workers.
Questioned on why workers were brought in from Thailand when local construction workers could have been used, Hsieh said that with a monthly salary of less than US$900, not enough local workers were prepared to accept such low pay levels. The city has stopped importing Thai workers on the project following the disturbances.
A preliminary probe found that “foreign workers’ basic rights were not respected and their working conditions were not protected. The sanitation is poor”. Security guards regularly used stun guns to punish Thai workers found breaking regulations. The panel found that “food for Thai workers is worse than pig food and they work under slave-like conditions”.
About 300 workers set fire to offices and cars, burnt clothes and threw rocks at police after 100 workers were stopped from taking alcohol and cigarettes back to their hostel. Roughly 800 workers were living in facilities that only had a capacity to house 300 people. Huapan has since lost is contract, while the Thai workers were moved to better dormitories.
