Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers representing constituencies in Greater Kaohsiung were riled yesterday after Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) declined their request for a special provision bill, financial assistance through a special budget allocation and a dedicated agency to administrate post-disaster relief and reconstruction.
At a press conference in Taipei, DPP legislators Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤), Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺), Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) and Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) denounced the central government for what they called “giving a cold shoulder” to the victims.
“They are rubbing salt into the wounds suffered by Kaohsiung residents,” said Chao, whose constituency is in Cianjhen (前鎮) and Lingya (苓雅) districts, which was where the explosions took place last week, killing 28 people and injuring more than 300. “We are very disappointed. The explosions caused such extensive destruction, but Premier Jiang is treating it as just an ordinary incident. His callous treatment will delay reconstruction efforts and make residents suffer more pain for longer.”
Photo: CNA
Lee said Greater Kaohsiung residents have suffered pollution and paid a high price for the sake of the nation’s economic development.
“Now the residents need help from the central government, but the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is stomping on Kaohsiung instead,” he said.
He said that Greater Kaohsiung has a budget of NT$1.26 billion (US$42 million) for disaster relief and when spending on other natural disasters is taken out, there is only NT$500 million left.
“This amount is not enough even for the road repairs. If the central government’s financial subsidy is not forthcoming, it will be impossible to recover from this disaster,” Lee said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators also met with Jiang yesterday.
KMT legislators Alex Fai (費鴻泰), Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) told a press conference that Jiang had agreed that the Executive Yuan would shoulder the expenses that the local government’s disaster fund cannot cover.
Lin Kuo-cheng said the premier has also pledged to have the Ministry of Economic Affairs tackle the problem caused by the municipality’s jumbled gas pipelines.
On Monday, DPP Greater Kaohsiung councilors raised four key demands with the central government — that reconstruction funding should be subsidized in full by the central government; compensation for the victims should be paid out by central government and that it should assist the victims in seeking compensation from the company responsible; bar the relaying of gas pipelines during the reconstruction; and to fully focus efforts on reconstruction and not political mud-slinging.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS