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CEPD labels MOTC budget plan unrealistic

The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday defended its decision to deny a budget proposal by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), saying the amount the ministry had requested was "not in line with reality."

Chang Jing-sen (張景森), the CEPD's vice chairman, said yesterday that the ministry had proposed a 2001 budget amounting to NT$232.8 billion -- a sum far in excess of the average NT$81.3 billion granted annually to the MOTC.

"This year's figure is far too high," Chang said. "It is almost three times the usual amount and is simply not in line with reality."

The Cabinet-level CEPD, which is the government's highest economic planning body, has decided to give the MOTC just NT$64.6 billion.

Chang said the figure may seem skimpish compared to the NT$232.8 billion that was requested, but the CEPD's proposed figure was more moderate when the MOTC's previous budgets are taken into consideration.

While declining to make an official response yesterday, anonymous MOTC officials were quoted by local media yesterday as saying the CEPD's decision would jeopardize more than NT$1 trillion in private investment in major transportation projects.

Reports also said that the MOTC would be forced to halt, for up to two years, all construction of mass rapid transit (MRT) projects across the nation and delay the building of freeway networks in the north and several east-west expressways.

But Chang refuted these claims, saying major freeway construction projects such as the Number Two National Freeway were virtually completed and wouldn't be affected by cuts in the MOTC's budget.

Chang also said that construction of the Taipei-Kaohsiung high-speed railway -- along with the MRT system for Kaohsiung and a rail line to CKS Airport -- were private investment projects and would not be affected by the budget cuts.

"The concept of government investment in public construction projects is changing," Chang said. "In the future the major investors will be from the private sector ... which means that cutting government funding isn't cutting the budget for these projects."

The tightened budget would also cut down on what Chang said was a "wasteful" use of scarce financial resources.

According to Chang, many major road construction projects are completed well under budget and the surplus cash is spent on unnecessary side ventures.

"We are very suspicious of many previous construction projects," Chang said. "Their budgets were too high and any surplus of cash that was left over ... was spent on all kinds of plans vaguely related to the main task to use it up."

Chang said the wasted money could be better spent elsewhere, adding that he hoped the budget cut would help squeeze out inefficiency and funnel more funds to develop floundering sectors such as the tourism industry.

In response to reported fears that the MOTC would have to fork out billions in compensation to transport construction projects already underway, Chang said only those that the MOTC has not yet opened for tender would "be revised."

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