Local government leaders yesterday sparred at a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei as they eyed a bigger share of the central government’s NT$880 billion (US$29 billion) infrastructure funding for the next eight years.
The Executive Yuan on March 20 announced plans to allocate NT$880 billion to its Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, of which more than NT$400 billion is to be used to help local governments build railways.
The tension between local governments and the central government heated up when Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) on Sunday posted an article on Facebook criticizing New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is planning to ask for funding to extend his city’s “three rings, three lines” metro system.
The government had invested NT$1.18 trillion in transportation in Greater Taipei in the past 20 years, which is almost three times as much as the Executive Yuan’s NT$400 billion budget to develop new railways in the next eight years, Chang said.
“I don’t know why Mayor Chu is asking for more from the government,” he said.
Chang said the New Taipei City Government should raise funds from other sources to ease the central government’s burden, so it can spend more on other cities, such as Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Changhua and Kaohsiung.
Chu said the extension of the “three rings, three lines” system is not only a New Taipei City Government policy, but also one of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign promises.
“I hope there will be less emotional talk and more constructive action to help complete Greater Taipei’s railway network,” Chu told the public hearing.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) echoed Chang’s remarks, telling the hearing that she thinks there continues to be an imbalance in the resources allocated to northern and southern Taiwan.
Chen said she hoped her city would receive funding to help build a new mass rapid transit system line.
Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) also argued that the central government has favored northern Taiwan and neglected the needs of central Taiwan.
Lin said he was speaking on behalf of Taichung, Changhua, Nantou and Miaoli, and urged the Executive Yuan to allocate funds for an expansion of central Taiwan’s railway system.
Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) said when it comes to resource allocation, her county has been a “loser” when compared with Taipei and New Taipei City, as Greater Taipei always receives the majority of funds.
Helen Chang said that she hoped the central government could help Chiayi develop an elevated railway system and build a railway line from Chiayi High Speed Rail Station to downtown Chiayi.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) made a last-minute decision not to attend the hearing.
Ko said that he knew it would turn into a war of words and not achieve a consensus regarding budget allocation.
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