g the safety of pedestrians and motorists, by using plywood boards instead of iron covers to cover manholes after finishing its work, a report said yesterday. The company put the boards on the manholes and then covered them with asphalt, as it paved the road after finishing the sewer work at Tienmu, the United Evening News said.
The shoddy work was exposed after residents in the district reported cave-ins on the road, the paper said.
Taipei City Councilor Wang Chih-ping, while conducting an on-the-site investigation, witnessed how the contractor had its workers dig up the road and replace the boards with iron covers, the paper added.
The councilor demanded the city's Sewage Systems Office investigate whether there is other similar substandard work in the city.
The contractor was cited as claiming that it had to use plywood boards temporarily as iron covers were in short supply.
The deputy chief engineer of the Sewage Systems Office said the contractor had breached the contract and would be subject to fine. It will have to fix the problem as soon as possible, the engineer was cited by the paper as saying.
The city's anti-corruption officials said they will launch a thorough investigation to see if are other similar cases.
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