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Mayor Ma unveils lottery plan for the handicapped

Taipei Major Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday promised that space within the city's MRT stations would soon be made available for handicapped lottery dealers.

"In the near future, space in six MRT stations will be made available for handicapped lottery dealers," Ma told his audience at an event co-hosted by the Taiwan Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation and the Taipei Association for Social Service to promote information services to the handicapped.

Ma did not elaborate on a schedule for the plan nor did he name the six MRT stations, realizing that his promise is still pending the approval of the central government.

According to Chang Chi-yu (張基煜), secretary of the Taipei Bureau of Labor Affairs, lottery stands are prohibited from operating in MRT stations due to rules set down by the Ministry of Finance and the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC).

"The Ministry of Finance has ruled that handicapped lottery dealers can only sell tickets independently, while the TRTC has determined that shops in MRT stations can only be operated by NGOs," Chang told the Taipei Times.

In an effort to help handicapped people improve their economic situation, Chang said, the city government had proposed allowing NGOs representing handicapped people to operate lottery stands in MRT stations.

Chang added that, so far, the TRTC has approved of the city government's proposal.

"We submitted this proposal to the Ministry of Finance last month and we are waiting to hear back," Chang said.

"The six MRT stations have been chosen for their location and their large flow of passengers," Chang added. "We believe that having lottery tickets stands there can greatly improve the income of handicapped lottery dealers."

If the ministry approves the proposal, Chang said, the city government would rent the space in the MRT stations from the TRTC for the use of the NGOs. Chang said the city government would not gain any money from the space as the revenue from lottery operations would go to the NGOs themselves.
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