Taipei's $744 Million Sunshades Delayed, Criticized as 'Mess Left Behind'

Taipei City's ambitious plan to install eight sunshades in Xinyi District, each costing a hefty 7.44 million New Taiwan dollars, is facing significant backlash. The project, initially slated for completion by summer, has been pushed back to January next year, sparking accusations of broken promises and mismanagement.

Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei has sharply criticized the delay, stating that "wrong policies don't become right by dragging them out; expensive projects don't become cheaper by waiting until winter." She highlighted that the project, announced with fanfare as a "first-of-its-kind urban sunshade initiative," was even written into Mayor Chiang Wan-an's administrative report with a summer 2026 completion date. However, the Public Works Department's latest update reveals construction only began on July 20th, with a 180-day construction period, pushing the estimated completion to January 15th next year.

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Wrong policies don't become right by dragging them out; expensive projects don't become cheaper by waiting until winter.

Chien pointed out that similar sunshade measures exist in New Taipei and Kaohsiung, implemented more efficiently and affordably. She questioned why Taipei's project is both more expensive and slower, suggesting the delay might be a strategy to avoid public scrutiny until after the upcoming elections. "Li Ssu-tsai left a mess, and Chiang Wan-an can't clean it up!" she declared, emphasizing that the issue isn't the concept of sunshades but the execution of this particular project.

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Li Ssu-tsai left a mess, and Chiang Wan-an can't clean it up!