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TSU legislators decry MND's helmet purchase

Legislators of the opposition TSU alleged yesterday that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has put the lives of military personnel in jeopardy by equipping them with sub-standard helmets.

Speaking at a press conference in which they actually dressed up as soldiers, TSU legislators Lo Jhih-ming (羅志明), Ho Min-hao (何敏豪) and Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) demanded that the ministry recall the questionable helmets.

Ho cited a 1999 report by the Control Yuan, the nation's highest watchdog body, on the purchase of helmets, in which it said that the ministry had purchased 200,000 helmets between 1995 and 1999, and 30,000 in the first batch failed during testing.

Ho said that the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries (公務員懲戒委員會) under the Judicial Yuan then acted on the Control Yuan's censure of 13 military officers involved in the purchase.

However, the suspended military officers later resumed positions in the military and the defense committee of the legislature passed a budget of NT$22.72 million (US$648,570) to reimburse them, which the TSU legislators said infringed on the censure right of the Control Yuan and the disciplinary right of the Judicial Yuan.

Chen said that although there were defects in the disciplinary actions on the purchase, what was more shocking is that they were informed by an association of human rights promotion in the military that the ministry had distributed the unsafe helmets to soldiers.

Judging from the fact that 30,000 helmets in the first batch failed testing, the failure rate was about 60 percent, meaning that 120,000 of the helmets are not up to standard.

The MND's distribution of these helmets shows "gross neglect" of the lives of military personnel, the legislators said.

According to Ho, if war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, the 120,000 troops wearing the shoddy helmets will be in great danger.

He demanded that the ministry recall the defective helmets and expressed the hope the Control Yuan will continue to investigate who authorized the purchase of the helmets and agreed to their distribution.
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