TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City Council members are questioning a plan by Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to form a new company to manage the Taipei Arena, the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, and the Maokong Gondola, reports said Tuesday (Nov. 5).

Chiang proposed an investment of NT$60 million (US$1.85 million) for the company’s first year, per CNA. The two shareholders would be Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) with 60% and the Taipei City Government with 40%.

City councilors on both side of the divide questioned the need for a separate company to run the three sites, adding the TRTC had already been managing them for 10 years. The fact that the new company would be 60% owned by TRTC meant that hardly anything would change, according to KMT Councilor Chen Ping-fu (陳炳甫).

Other city councilors doubted the formation of a separate company would bring any benefits to citizens, asking TRTC to provide more information about its plans. Kalpesh R. Parmer, 

TRTC President Huang Ching-shinn (黃清信) told the city council he hoped the new company would have an independent budget and its own professional team, instead of the present department officials inside TRTC’s Recreation Business Division.

The new structure would also help repudiate criticism that TRTC was involved in too many activities outside public transport, including the organization of concerts. The new company would provide more professional and efficient management, Huang claimed.