Local authority chiefs plead poverty

About 200 local government chiefs protested outside the Executive Yuan yesterday, saying that their administrations did not have enough money to pay their employees.

Government officials, however, said that the financial problems of regional governments were not as serious as the protesters claimed and that it was the responsibility of the county and city governments to help villages, townships and cities under their jurisdiction to solve their financial difficulties.

Led by independent Legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) and KMT lawmakers Chen Chieh (陳杰), Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) and Tsai Chia-fu (蔡家福), about 200 village and township wardens and city mayors from around the nation began their protest in front of the Control Yuan yesterday morning.

They then proceeded to the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan.

Holding banners reading "Civil servants clamoring for food" and "Central government, help us get through financial difficulties," the group made three requests.

They want the government to help them pay the salaries of those employed by village and township offices and city governments; allocate the 3 percent tax redistribution fund reserved for emergency purposes to their administrations and hold a national conference to hammer out a measure to deal with the long-standing financial difficulties of local governments.

Hsiao Lung-tseh (蕭隆澤), village warden of Tantsu village in Taichung County, said that although the annual budget of his village this year was estimated at NT$400 million, it received only NT$390 million.

Chang Yi-cheng (張溢城), one of the leaders of the group, said that they were protesting to make their financial difficulties known and that they did not rule out the possibility of holding a larger protest if the government failed to come up with a measures to deal with their problem.

Lin Chuan (林全), head of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, said after the protests that the financial problems of villages, townships and cities were not as serious as the group had made out.

"Our investigation shows that only 20, instead of 60 as the group claimed, village and township offices and city governments actually have a problem paying the salaries of their employees," Lin said.

The central government will help those with genuine financial difficulties to solve their problems if they can first present a proposal on how to reduce expenses.

"Don't get us wrong, that we don't care about the financial plight of regional governments, because we do," Lin said.

However, it only conforms to the spirit of self-governance of local governments that the central government lets county and city governments take care of the problems of villages, townships and cities under their jurisdiction first instead of directly meddling in their affairs, Lin said.

Yu Ming-shih (尤明錫), director of the Cabinet's First Advisory Group, which advises on interior affairs, accepted the group's petition letter and promised to convey the information to the premier, who was presiding over the weekly closed-door Cabinet affairs meeting at the time of the protest.

Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) also showed up briefly at the protest to negotiate with the group.