Lawmakers propose halt to quake rebuilding fund

Opposition lawmakers yesterday raised a motion to hold back a controversial NT$26.31 billion reserve fund listed in the fiscal 2001 special budget for post-earthquake reconstruction.

The motion is expected to be passed on Thursday, when the legislature's Finance, Budget and Final Accounts Committee is scheduled to complete its review of the NT$100 billion special budget which had been proposed by the Executive Yuan.

Under these circumstances, the Executive Yuan will need to present detailed plans on how the NT$26.31 billion will be spent before it can draw upon the fund.

"We will pass the other NT$73.69 billion [for which detailed spending plans have been submitted] first and put this NT$26.31 billion on hold," said New Party Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), a main initiator of the motion.

The special budget bill has been drafted according to an amendment to the Temporary Statute for Post-Earthquake Reconstruction (九二一震災重建暫行條例) passed in November last year, which stipulates that a total of NT$100 billion is to be earmarked for this fiscal year for reconstruction work.

The total figure is NT$210 billion over a three-year period until fiscal 2003, based on an estimate by the Executive Yuan.

However, the NT$26.31 billion reserve fund, which constitutes up to 25 percent of this year's quake budget and which has not been allocated according to specific plans, has been a major dispute since the bill was submitted to the legislature two weeks ago.

While many opposition lawmakers have expressed doubts about the Executive Yuan's ability to plan its budget, some have suspected that the money is a "pork barrel" fund designed to finance requests for local improvements by politicians who campaign for the DPP in the year-end legislative and local government elections.

The dispute continued yesterday when the Finance, Budget and Final Accounts Committee started reviewing the budget.

KMT Legislator Chu Li-luan (朱立倫), who had opposed amending the temporary statute, said it was a mistake for the legislature to pass the amendment in the first place, because the Executive Yuan had produced the figure -- NT$210 billion over a three-year period -- without any calculations as a basis.

"This is a groundless estimate that is not backed by any substantive projects, and now all concerned agencies are allowed to share the money based on nothing," Chu said.

Chu said this problem is reflected in the Executive Yuan's failure to properly plan the NT$100 billion for this fiscal year, adding that the bill was virtually "pieced together" simply to tally with the amount.

In addition to the high percentage of reserve funds, Chu said up to 52.5 percent of the budget consists of "current expenditures" -- personnel, administrative, travel, inspection and other costs not directly related to reconstruction work.

"Reconstruction work should require more capital expenditures [to be invested directly into reconstruction projects], rather than current expenditures," Chu said.

In response, Huang Jung-tsun (黃榮村), a minister without portfolio who heads the Executive Yuan's 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission (九二一災後重建推動委員會), admitted that there are deficiencies in the planning of the budget, because it was drafted in a hurry to meet the requirements of the temporary statute.

Huang said his commission had in fact finished its planning for the NT$210 billion in August last year.