Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday released details of an NT$70 billion (about US$2 billion) package under which the government will provide temporary jobs to unemployed workers through a scheme involving public works, educational and other projects.
The scheme is part of a package to revive the sluggish econ-omy.
The premier outlined the package in his address to the annual New Year's Cabinet gathering.
Yu said the project is among the government's top priorities, as indicated by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in his New Year's Day message a day earlier, and he pledged to do his utmost to accomplish the objectives, because "the government exists only for the people and it must heed their needs."
According to figures released by the Cabinet yesterday, 75,000 jobs would be created by government departments.
The Council for Economic Planning and Development estimates that the 75,000 job opportunities would push the economic-growth rate up to 3.52 percent for this year and lower the unemployment rate to less than 4.5 percent.
The Ministry of the Interior heads the list of job-creating ministries with 22,066 posts in the offing for developing the census-data system and investigating the status of all Taiwan's sewers, which would cost NT$6.2 billion in personnel fees per year.
The Cabinet has set the goal of boosting tourism in Taiwan and the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC), has created 9,000 vacancies for this project, which includes the creation of some 7,000 jobs for keeping the national parks and tourist sites clean, and 2,000 jobs for developing Taiwan's international tourism network.
The Ministry of Education plans to employ 2,000 people to assist elementary school students from single-parent families or double-salary families with their homework. The jobs would primarily be given to mothers seeking to re-enter the job market after a few years off.
The estimated personnel fees would total NT$396 million per year.
Efforts to enhance aboriginal culture will provide 3,813 jobs, which is estimated to cost NT$940 million in personnel fees.
The Executive Yuan's Council of Aboriginal Affairs is creating the posts to assist aboriginal students with studying, to keep the aboriginal tourist sites clean, and to teach aboriginal cultures and languages to the young aboriginal generations.
The Government Information Office, meanwhile, has 253 positions concerning intellectual-property protection that would involve investigating the manufacturing and retailing of CDs, VCDs and DVDs around Taiwan. This jobs would cost NT$76 million.
The Cabinet's new forestry policy and the Council of Agriculture's need to know more about Taiwan's agriculture will also create some 8,263 jobs at an estimated cost of NT$1,92 billion in annual personnel fees.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, meanwhile, will create 9,950 jobs for managing Taiwan's rivers, which would cost NT$2.4 billion in personnel fees per year.
The Department of Health would create 588 new jobs and the Environment Protection Administration would create 5,130.
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