Executive Yuan gets censured

The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Executive Yuan for its extended delay in implementing a plan to build on-shore accommodation for Chinese fishermen hired by Taiwan employers -- forcing them to live in dangerous, overcrowded and unsanitary "floating hotels" off the Taiwan coast.

"The Executive Yuan should take responsibility for its inactive administration [of labor on fishing vessels]," said Control Yuan member Chao Ron-yaw (趙榮耀).

According to a report released by the Control Yuan yesterday, the Executive Yuan as early as August 1993 decided to allow Chinese fishermen to work for Taiwan-owned fishing boats since there was a shortage of human resources in the fishing industry at the time.

The report says that since no action was taken either to allow such fishermen to enter Taiwan or to regulate the provision of accommodation to them, the Chinese fishermen are forced to stay aboard the floating hotels, converted fishing boats which are overcrowded.

The delay, for which the Executive Yuan has been censured, goes back to when the KMT was in power.

Giving shelter

In August 2000, the Executive Yuan, under the control of the DPP and following the inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on May 20 that year, started to hold meetings to discuss the possibility of building shelters in Taiwan for Chinese fishermen working for Taiwanese employers.

In October 2000, a cross-ministry panel was set up to handle the matter. It was decided to eliminate all floating hotels and build shelters on land near some fishing ports across Taiwan's coasts.

Three shelters in Hsinchu, Taichung and Keelung fishing ports were finished in the months of February, June and October this year respectively, and one shelter in Ilan County is expected to be finished by the end of this month.

In July this year, a fire on a floating hotel during Typhoon Nari, which hampered rescue efforts, resulted in the death of one fisherman and thrust the plight of fishermen from China into the media spotlight.

Control Yuan member Liao Jiann-nan (廖健男) said yesterday that it had been 10 years since the Executive Yuan first decided to allow Chinese fishermen to work in Taiwan and it has only now begun to build humanitarian shelters for the fishermen. "Administrative effectiveness appears low," he said.

The report also says that although the Executive Yuan requires Taiwanese employers to report details of their administration of Chinese fishermen to the Council of Agriculture, bosses are not obliged to do so until after they have employed the individual. The report says this can lead to inaccuracies.

One Control Yuan member, Lee Shen-yi (李伸一), said, "This is a shallow and a poor management system which cannot effectively filter out problematic Chinese fishermen."

China blamed

Chinese fishermen are frequently blamed for crime in Taiwan's fishing industry.

At the end of July 2002, there were 53 floating hotels off Taiwan's coast, most of which lack sanitary facilities and are over-crowed.

The report says this is not in line with basic human rights.

The Executive Yuan must respond to the censure within two months with an action plan that will include deadlines.