The Executive Yuan yesterday decided to begin the construction of the Suao-Hualien (
"This is an important project that will cost NT$170 billion, but it will improve the traffic and transportation conditions a lot in eastern Taiwan," said Chang Ping-nan (張平男), deputy director-general of the Government Information Office.
According to Chang, Premier Tang Fei (
After hearing reports from the MOTC, Tang further instructed the MOTC's Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau (國工局) to start surveying the land and draw up a construction blueprint to be ready by next year.
The MOTC, meanwhile, will encourage civil industries to invest and participate in the construction project according to regulations governing the civil industrial sectors to invest in national construction projects law (
Chang said that the Executive Yuan would adopt the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model to invite bids from private companies to construct the highway.
If the government budget allows and if there is enough investment from private companies, the MOTC will begin construction in 2005 and complete building the Suao-Hualien Section in 2011, Chang added at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting.
In addition, controversy over whether the nation's debt ceiling should be raised was discussed at the Cabinet meeting.
However, no conclusions were reached.
"First we need to clarify by exactly is covered by the `public debt.' The Executive Yuan intends not to increase government debt by borrowing more money to pay debts incurred by the former government," said Wea Chi-lin (
Vice Premier Chang Chung-hsiung (
However, he did not rule out the possibility of proposing to raise the debt ceiling if the revision fails to be passed in the next legislative term.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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