Premier `should pay Taipower'

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) should be forced to pay NT$3.17 billion in compensation to contractors for delays in the building of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, KMT law-makers said yesterday.

Last year, Lin recommended that the project be cancelled, and it was Chang who ordered the projected halted.

Members of the KMT legislative caucus said yesterday the pair should be forced to pay the compensation fees, and have threatened to remove NT$3.17 billion set aside as a part of the 2001 budget for state-run Taiwan Power Company.

Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金), KMT caucus whip, said it was unreasonable to ask Taipower to pay the compensation fees, which would then be passed along to consumers through higher electricity rates.

"As the erroneous decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project was made by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, they should pay the money," Cheng said.

Cheng said it was clear in a May 15 censure from the Control Yuan that the Cabinet and the ministry was responsible for the power plant fiasco.

Based on this line of reasoning, Taipower should ask Chang and Lin -- rather than the public -- for the money needed to pay the compensation, Cheng said.

In October, the Cabinet's decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project without obtaining the legislature's approval led to severe tensions between the legislative and administrative branches.

Following a constitutional interpretation issued by the Council of Grand Justices in January -- in which the Cabinet was determined to have committed "procedural flaws" in its decision-making process -- the Cabinet engaged in negotiations with lawmakers and decided to restart work on the project in February. For the work suspension that lasted over three months, the government is to pay NT$31.7 billion to the plant's contractors. The DPP, however, called the KMT's move a meaningless one and urged the party to stop making trouble.

Chou Po-lun (周伯倫), convener of the DPP legislative caucus, said even if the compensation budget was cut, the contractors could still take legal action to have Taipower's property placed under legal custody to force payment.

Chou said the opposition shouldn't be using the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to stir up trouble, as the Cabinet has already resumed the project in accordance with the legislature's resolution.

Chou said his caucus will try to communicate with the KMT during an inter-party negotiations scheduled for Friday to discuss how the legislature is to deal with the budget for state-run enterprises such as Taipower.