Two issues in Taipei City may affect the daily lives of millions of people -- the insufficient water levels in reservoirs and the decision by the city's Bureau of Environmental Protection to stop collecting garbage on Wednesdays due to a shortage of funds.
The Bureau says opinion polls show there is more support than opposition for its move. However, an important issue is the fact that while the public-service awareness among residents in this constantly modernizing city is increasing, the standard of public services provided by City Hall is falling.
A look at how Taipei residents have handled the garbage issue in recent years makes one proud of the way their environmental and public service awareness has advanced. When President Chen Shui-bian (
The "no garbage touches the ground" policy created a lot of problems for residents. People find themselves getting off work at about 6pm and rushing home to take care of yesterday's garbage. In the moist, hot summers, one day's garbage stinks by the following evening. But how many working people can get off work on time every day? It's not uncommon that one has to accumulate a couple of days worth of garbage because of missing the garbage truck's rounds. The price to be paid for cutting back on garbage collection by one more day will be that the quality of living space, already limited in cities, declines further.
Government services are deteriorating. There are fewer and fewer trash cans in public areas in an obvious attempt to reduce garbage-collection expenditures. In conjunction with its offer to collect oversized garbage prior to the Lunar New Year two years ago, the government also announced that the garbage collection frequency would increase each year.
But when the streets ended up being filled with mountains of garbage the following year ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the city government shirked. Not only did it not increase the frequency of garbage collection, it appeared to taking a stealth approach to collection. No widespread announcements of collection times, but quiet pick-ups district by district. In some areas, the collection date was even set during the work day almost a month ahead of New Year's.
Not many people have the time to clear out their garbage during a work day. It was clear to everyone that the city government was trying to minimize the opportunity for residents to clear out their oversized garbage.
One benchmark of an improved understanding of environmental protection is that most residents have readily cooperated with the garbage-separation policy. However, it turns out that the city government can't do its part by handling many of the materials collected for recycling.
Northern Taiwan is once again experiencing water shortages and the government once again wants the public to help resolve the problem by reducing water consumption. During last year's drought, the public was willing to do so and accepted the explanation that the drought was an unexpected natural disaster.
Now that we are heading into another year of drought conditions, one can but wonder if and how the government reviewed its distribution policies for water resources in the past year, and what, if any, improvements were made. Are we supposed to rely on the gods for drinking water and to help solve problems every year?
During last year's mayoral campaign in Taipei, the DPP's Lee Ying-yuan (
Won't those people who supported Ma based on environmental-protection concerns feel a little bit cheated now to find out that the city is cutting down on garbage collection?
In modern society, garbage collection and providing potable water are two of the most fundamental government services. Budget deficits and insufficient rain are facts, but they should not be dealt with in ways that lower the quality of life. That would be the same as treating a progressive public with retrogressive means.
Ku Er-teh is a freelance writer.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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