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Fisheries Agency the first to `go south'

Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), chairman of the Council of Agriculture (COA), yesterday revealed that Kaohsiung's Chienchen Fishing Port (前鎮漁港) could be the new site for the council's Fisheries Agency.

The Executive Yuan is pushing a project that would see several government offices and headquarters of state-run businesses relocated to southern Taiwan.

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday that he had selected the COA's Fisheries Agency to be among the first government offices to be relocated to the south.

Su Jia-chyuan has promised his full cooperation provided the Executive Yuan officially announces the decision.

`Closer to home'

Su Jia-chyuan joked that he would be "closer to home" after the Fisheries Agency moves to the south, since his hometown is in Pingtung County.

Su Jia-chyuan said he had also discussed the matter with the Council for Economic Planning and Development, and said he felt there was no need to move two other agencies under the COA, the Agriculture and Food Agency and the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, since they were already located in central Taiwan.

Su Jia-chyuan said that the Fisheries Agency stood out as the best candidate for relocation to the south, since Pingtung and Kaohsiung were both key regions for the nation's fishing industry.

The Fisheries Agency, currently located in Taipei, has over 200 employees. Rehousing and transportation issues for the existing staff are yet to be solved.

Concerns

In response to concerns expressed by lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition, Su Jia-chyuan said that moving the agency to the south of the country would not involve the renegotiation of fishing rights.

Cabinet spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said yesterday that Premier Su approved of moving government agencies to the south if the agencies were in charge of activities related closely to the south or if the agencies did not need to be located in any particular place.

Since southern Taiwan is a key region for offshore fishing, Cheng said, the plan to move the Fisheries Agency to the south had been confirmed.

In addition to the Fisheries Agency, other government agencies, headquarters of state-run businesses and state-funded foundations were also among possible candidates to be moved to the south, he added.
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