Budget review goes to final round

Despite rounds of negotiations, the four legislative caucuses yesterday failed to reach a consensus over the flood-prevention budget as lawmakers held a joint committee review of the bill.

If opposing sides refuse to budge this morning, a showdown vote may be called to settle the fate of the special budget to finance flood-prevention projects along the Keelung River.

The legislature is slated to wrap up the three-day extraordinary session today.

"Representatives from the four caucuses will meet again [this] morning in the hope of ironing out their differences," TSU legislative leader Chen Cheng-lung (程振隆) said yesterday after a cross-party talks.

At the center of the dispute is some NT$1.98 billion Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) insists is necessary to prevent tributaries of the Keelung River from endangering his constituency.

The Cabinet has refused to include the sum in the special budget of NT$31.6 billion, saying the capital city is responsible for the part of the river under its control and is financially capable of picking up the expense.

Though eager to speed up the passage of the budget, the DPP legislative leaders said they would have to consult the Cabinet before agreeing to any pact.

Earlier in the day, opposition lawmakers sympathetic to Ma proposed attaching a resolution to the budget that would require the central government to shoulder all costs related to the treatment of the Keelung River.

They argue that the Special Statute for Flood-Prevention measures along the Keelung River justifies Ma's demand.

Adopted last October, the statute says the government may request a special budget for taming the flood-prone river that flows through Keelung City, Taipei County and Taipei City.

The planned resolution would also bind the government to turn over any surplus funds to state coffers.

KMT legislative leader Lin Yi-shih (林益世) has accused the Cabinet of loosely preparing the budget. He noted that a NT$4.95 billion contract was closed at NT$4.2 billion, but the government has asked for NT$5.96 billion in the budget.

"The government owes the public an explanation for the discrepancy," Lin told reporters. "It should shed light on what it will do with the surplus NT$1.5 billion."

Defending the Cabinet, DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said he welcomed opposition colleagues to point out any part of the budget they found wasteful.

"They can go ahead and seek to cross out items in the budget they consider loosely prepared," he said, lamenting insults leveled against the premier and other Cabinet officials on the legislative floor.

Angry at what they called Yu's inept leadership, opposition lawmakers threw paper cups and rude remarks at the premier during the question-and-answer session Monday night.

Wang said that it is unrealistic to expect the premier, the nation's highest administrator, to know every detail of the flood-prevention program.

"Yu is hired to put the country on the right track," the DPP lawmaker said.

"That being so, he must delegate rather than take all things into his own hands."

Unconvinced, the opposition is seeking to include a clause in the suggested resolution saying that the amount of public bonds to be issued must be based on actual needs.