The construction of the long-delayed Taipei Dome stadium is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021, the project's main contractor Farglory Group said Saturday (Aug 8), after Taipei city Government approved the resumption of work following a five year hiatus.



Jacky Yang (楊舜欽), spokesman of Farglory, one of the largest property developers in Taiwan, said the group will follow the schedule it has established to complete the project by the end of 2021.



Earlier Saturday, Taipei City Construction Management Office announced it had issued a permit to let the project resume, after work was suspended on May 20, 2015 during the first term of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who took office in December 2014.



Taipei City Government suspended construction work due to safety concerns and the discovery of 79 building features not constructed according to design specifications, although Farglory had completed 80 percent of the work on the multi-purpose stadium at the time.



Speaking to the press, Yang said Taipei City Government and Farglory entered into long negotiations before agreement was reached on revising the project to meet safety needs, allowing work to resume.



Following the issue of the permit, Yang said Farglory will make the necessary changes to complete the project, but noted that further negotiations will be needed with the city government.



All the changes in the project will be publicized, to underscore the transparency of the process, he said.



Construction was suspended for more than five years due to disagreements between the city and the company over the safety of some of the design features.



However, Farglory later agreed to rebuild parts of the dome that were not constructed according to design plans, reduce the venue's overall capacity, and increase fire safety and evacuation features, Taipei City Construction Management Office said in a statement.



The office said Farglory will be required to add safety and fireproofing features to several of the dome's five existing stairwells before being granted a usage permit.



The office added it had fined Farglory and ordered the company to remove cotton sound insulation which the contractor installed without permission.



Construction work on the 40,000-seat Taipei Dome project began in 2012, but it became the focus of controversy after Ko made it a campaign issue when he ran for mayor in 2014, saying the project was plagued by corruption and mismanagement.



Critics have said the permit to resume construction is also based on political considerations as Ko does not want an unfinished project to become an obstacle to his ambitions to run for the presidency in 2024.



The dome is located to the north of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei's Xinyi District.