In November the year before last, a grand opening ceremony was held for the swimming pool, built at a cost of NT$45 million, at Mailiao Senior High School in Yunlin County. The county government announced that on weekdays the pool would be used for teaching students from Mailiao Township and on holidays it would be open to the public. However, having been opened, because no lifeguard could be found, the pool did not actually come into use until the end of October last year.
What really takes the cake is that after two months of trial operation, the pool closed its doors again at New Year, just because the subsidy for paying the lifeguard’s and caretaker’s wages for the new financial year had not yet been allocated.
A nearby resident surnamed Lin says with a sigh that, after a long year’s wait, people had finally got to see the swimming pool being opened, so that Mailiao residents at last would not have to go to Huwei or Taisi to find a pool. Who would have thought that the pool would be closed again after just two months? It was such a letdown, says Lin.
Photo: Cheng Hsu-kai, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者鄭旭凱
Yeh Hsiao-yin, the lifeguard, applied for the job because she loves swimming, and she did not expect to be out of work again after just two months. Now she has to spend her days doing odd jobs. She points out that swimming pools have to be cleaned regularly, otherwise algae start to grow on the bottom of the pool, which makes cleaning all the more difficult, so she hopes the pool can soon start running normally again.
Chiu Hsiao-wen, Director General of Yunlin County’s Education Department, says the county government provides an annual subsidy of NT$1.7 million for the swimming pool, of which NT$1.1 million is for personnel expenses for the lifeguard and caretaker. Chiu says the budget has been approved by the county council and the paperwork is being prioritized. The money will be allocated as soon as final approval is given, so that the swimming pool can keep operating normally.
Students’ parents are more critical, asking why the pool was put on hold after two months of operation just because of the paperwork. They say it really is too much.(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
前年十一月,耗資四千五百萬元興建的雲林縣立麥寮高中游泳池風光開幕,縣府宣稱平日可作為麥寮鄉內學生教學使用,假日也會開放給民眾使用。但泳池啟用後,卻因找不到救生員,直到去年十月底才開始試營運。
誇張的是,試營運兩個月後,泳池又在元旦關門,只因新年度救生員與管理員薪資補助尚未撥款。
附近林姓鄉民感嘆,苦等一年,好不容易盼到泳池開幕,麥寮人終於不用跑到虎尾或台西才有游泳池,沒想到,才兩個月光景,泳池又關門,真的很掃興。
擔任救生員的葉小銀表示,因喜愛游泳才應徵,沒想到才做了兩個月就失業,現在只好打零工度日。她提醒,泳池必須經常整理,否則池底長出青苔後更難清理,希望能趕快恢復正常運作。
雲林縣教育處長邱孝文表示,縣府每年補助泳池一百七十萬元,其中一百一十萬元是救生員與管理員人事費用,預算已通過縣議會審議,正加緊處理公文,獲准後將立即撥款,讓游泳池能維持正常營運。
學生家長則批評,只因公文流程就能讓泳池在營運兩個月後就停擺,真的很誇張。
(自由時報記者鄭旭凱)
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