Gwangju City Councilor Park Sugi: "Urban Railway 'Opening Delay' Was Foreseen"

“Complacent Response Results... Disclose the Situation and Apologize”

Park Sugi, Member of Gwangju City Council.

Park Sugi, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party, Gwangsan 5), stated during the administrative audit of Gwangju on the 7th, “The bidding for Sections 7 and 10, the core sections of Phase 2 of the Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2, has failed, making the completion deadline uncertain,” and pointed out, “The failure without an increase in the project budget was predictable.”

Sections 7 and 10 of Phase 2 of Urban Railway Line 2 have failed five times since last year, including attempts at private contracts. The construction industry unanimously agrees that the fundamental cause of the bidding failures was the unrealistically low initial project budget, which did not reflect reality. In particular, Sections 7 and 10 are known to have had traffic volume calculation errors, resulting in estimated prices significantly exceeding construction costs. Moreover, due to the nature of underground construction, there are many unpredictable variables, and with recent increases in material and labor costs, the shortage of construction funds has become even more severe.

Councilor Park criticized, “Without an increase in the project budget, no company will readily step forward,” adding, “This was a foreseeable situation, and Gwangju City’s complacent response has ultimately led to yet another ‘opening delay.’”

He continued, “Seoul City has an example of expediting discussions with the Ministry of Economy and Finance for a project budget increase through proactive administration, successfully completing bidding for a similar project,” and emphasized, “Gwangju City should refer to Seoul’s case and negotiate with the Ministry of Economy and Finance for a total project budget increase, even at this stage.”

Councilor Park also stated, “Since the delay in the opening of Line 2 has become inevitable, the city must disclose the accurate situation to the citizens and issue an official apology.”