Government officials from Taipei City and Taipei County continued to trade barbs yesterday over the use of the Feitsui Reservoir, a drinking-water source located on county land but built and managed by the city.
County officials yesterday accused the city of hampering development near the reservoir, while the city called its county counterparts "clueless."
The county wants use 200,000 tonnes of water daily from the reservoir beginning today. But the city has said it can only spare five tonnes for a seven-day period.
"It's a serious problem that the people don't have any fresh water to drink," DPP Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (
"If the city can offer the water for seven days, how come it cannot do so for 70 days, or seven months or even seven years?"
In addition, Su said, residents who live near the reservoir were being treated unfairly.
"I feel sorry for those who live in the surrounding areas near the reservoir," he said. "Not only is any development over there prohibited, but residents also have to pay a substantial amount of money to drink from the reservoir."
But Tsay Huei-sheng (
"We sell the water to the Taiwan Water Supply Corp at the price of NT$5.9 per tonne. The company sells the water to county residents at NT$9.5 per tonne. The prices haven't changed since 1994," Tsay said.
In addition, he said, residents who live near the reservoir benefit from it financially.
"Those who drink water from the reservoir are subject to an NT$0.2 water fee," he said. "The fund, which comes to about NT$120 million every year, is given back to those living in the area surrounding the reservoir."
City officials also took several swipes at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who was scheduled to attend a ceremony yesterday to mark the county's use of the Feitsui Reservoir.
The event was cancelled after the dispute over the rights to the reservoir erupted.
City spokesperson Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) quoted Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as saying that the city feels sorry that Chen was drawn into the dispute.
Still, Ma said, because Chen served as Taipei mayor between 1994 and 1998, he should have been better informed about the situation.
"All along Su has been clueless" about the matter, Wu said.
"At first, [the county government] told us that it needed 200,000 tonnes daily, then it's reduced to 120,000 tonnes. Frankly speaking, we're totally confused," Wu said.
The city spokesman said yesterday that the city was still willing to continue negotiations with the county, but only on a "professional" basis.
"We don't intend to be disrespectful to President Chen or to give Commissioner Su a hard time," Wu said.
"However, county-city cooperation is not something about the realization of someone's election promises, but about how to work together fairly and effectively."
During last year's presidential election campaign, Chen pledged to push for the right of Taipei County to use more water from the Feitsui Reservoir.
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