'Let statistics speak for themselves'
Taipei Times: What are your achievements in the last four years that may help you win re-election as Taipei County commissioner?
Su Tseng-chang (
In the last four years, we established 22 new schools and refurbished 4,500 classrooms. We added 300 classes to public kindergartens and provided day care for 9,000 preschoolers. Since 1998, all grade schools have introduced computer courses to their curricula, with the help of the county government.
In addition, we opened over 300 classes for the continued education of senior citizens, so they don't have to stay home and feel bored.
We've built a ceramics museum and plan to establish another museum for metal artifacts.
Over the last decade, car accidents killed an average of 280 people in the county annually. One year after I assumed office, the number plunged to 135.
We succeeded in bringing the number down to 117 in 1999 and 112 last year. The declining casualties mean fewer broken families.
Many main streets used to be littered with ads, garbage and discarded appliances. With a well-planned green campaign, you can now find trees in their place instead. Thus, I pride myself on providing residents with a cleaner living environment.
TT: What else do you plan to do if you are re-elected on Dec. 1?
Su: The things that can be done are too many to be itemized for a county so big. With a population of 3.6 million, the county is larger than 66 of the world's nations. Some counties and cities, such as Keelung, Ilan and Penghu, have populations of less than 600,000.
The last four years are only a beginning of a much more ambitious undertaking. We will seek to improve traffic flow, build more schools, beef up law and order and go ahead with public construction projects aimed at enhancing living standards in the county.
We have won the bid to host the 2003 National Games and the construction of a new stadium is expected to be completed in February of next year.
TT: Despite the record, are you, as a standard-bearer for the DPP, afraid of falling victim to growing public discontent over the economic slowdown and rising unemployment?
Su: Very much so. The county, home to several industrial parks, has borne the brunt of an exodus of labor-intensive factories. A sizable number of people in the county can't find work. The county alone can't solve the problem, which will involve inter-ministerial efforts on the part of the central government. But we have taken every opportunity to offer assistance.
We have set up an investment task force and turn idle industrial tracts into commercial zones in the hope of attracting large-scale investment projects. We have approved 19 projects with a total capitalization of NT$17.6 billion. They will create a significant number of employment opportunities, I believe.
In addition, we have organized several job fairs and found employment for more than 20,000 people. In the wake of the recent typhoons, the central government has provided 10,000 temporary job opportunities, and we were able to secure 3,000 of them for the county's residents.
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