The legislature yesterday kicked off a special session to review the budget for flood-prevention measures along the Keelung River that residents hope will end the severe flooding that has blighted them in recent years.
The project, which will cost an estimated NT$70 billion, is aimed at making Keelung City and Taipei County as safe from flooding as Taipei City against flooding, Premier Yu Shyi-kun told legislators.
The first half of the project, spanning the fiscal years of 2002 to 2005, is expected to cost NT$31.6 billion, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"After careful evaluation, the Cabinet decided to address the part of the project considered the most urgent," Yu said, spelling out the rationale behind his request for the special budget.
The Hsichih area in Taipei County and Peifu community in Keelung City are far more prone to flooding than Taipei City, he said. Rapid development on the banks of the river in recent years justified the need to promptly improve the situation, Yu said.
"Otherwise, we may witness hundreds of residents in these areas suffering serious loss of property during the typhoon season," the premier said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
But, he said, financial constraints meant the Cabinet could not grant the capital city the NT$1.98 billion demanded by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"I have no preference for one local government over another," Yu said. "Taipei City will also benefit from the work when it is completed."
But opposition lawmakers criticized the decision as being politically motivated and threatened to attach a resolution requiring the Cabinet to include the money in its budget for next year.
KMT legislative whip Lin Yi-shih (
PFP Legislator Chin Huei-chu (
The premier, however, denied any political calculations had been made when preparing the budget.
"My stance in the matter is in full conformity with that of my predecessors Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Tang Fei (唐飛), and Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄)," Yu said. "But none of them was accused of political bias."
Lin Chuan (
He added that the three projects Ma is proposing are not really part of the flood-prevention program.
Minister of the Finance Lee Yung-san (
He said that Taipei City can issue its own bonds to sponsor the three projects if it insists on carrying them out.
Despite their discontent, the two opposition parties said they would not boycott the budget to avoid punishing innocent citizens.
Despite being in summer recess, 162 lawmakers from all parties attended the session. The interpellation session was expected to last till midnight, with 78 lawmakers registering to question Cabinet officials.
The legislature is slated to hold a joint committee review of the proposed budget today and call for its second and third readings tomorrow.
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