Taipei City officials are taking umbrage to a plan by Taipei County officials to use an additional 200,000 tonnes of water per day from the city's Feitsui reservoir beginning Wednesday.
Taipei City yesterday called upon county officials to show some respect by discussing the matter with the city before making public announcements.
Earlier in the day, county officials held a press conference to announce that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would attend a "water supply ceremony" scheduled for Wednesday so he could witness the realization of one of his campaign promises. Chen had pledged to push for the right of Taipei County to more equitably share with Taipei City the water of the Feitsui reservoir, located in Taipei County but built and managed by Taipei City since 1984.
City spokesperson Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) quoted Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as saying yesterday that it is "inappropriate" for the county to announce that the plan has been finalized before discussing it with the city.
"We're not trying to be arrogant about sharing water with Taipei County, but it puzzles us that they have time to hold a press conference but not to give us a call to discuss the matter," Wu said.
"Even President Chen said that he'd get on his hands and knees to beg for [the cooperation of government officials] to speed economic development," Wu said. "Doesn't it seem logical that Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (
Taipei County's plan to use an additional 200,000 tonnes of water daily will be very hard to implement, according to Deputy Mayor Ou Chin-der (
"As it stands today, Taipei County takes about 1.19 million tonnes of water a day from the reservoir. What's left over is simply not enough to provide an additional 200,000 tonnes for the county," Ou said.
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