Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday urged opposition lawmakers to approve the NT$50 billion job-creation bill intended to stimulate the nation's economy and help local governments build infrastructure.
Hsieh yesterday appealed for support in the legislature for the bill, which would give Kaohsiung City NT$940 million to fund a series of major infrastructure projects.
"Though in the Cabinet's version of the bill, Kaohsiung City only receives NT$940 million ... the funds will definitely be of great importance to many of the city's infrastructure projects," Hsieh said.
"The city construction projects to benefit from the job-creation bill include the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit system, drainage construction, a light rail system, the management of open lands to prevent the spread of dengue-fever-carrying mosquitoes and the joint project to combine developments of Kaohsiung Airport with Kaohsiung Harbor," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said the projects should not be sacrificed because of a political brawl.
"Under a democratic system, political parties should consult with each other through appropriate channels to work out an agreement," Hsieh said.
Under the Cabinet's plans, NT$8.5 billion out of the NT$50 billion would be at the disposal of the central government, NT$2.3 billion is slated for the special municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung and the remaining NT$39.2 billion would go to other local administrations.
The KMT and PFP insist that NT$8.4 billion out of the NT$39.2 billion be distributed directly to townships.
Hsieh said the pan-blue camp should respect the Cabinet's proposed budget scheme since the ruling DPP is to be held responsible for the execution of the policy.
"The KMT and PFP made noise about changing the Cabinet's version of the budget. But are they going to be responsible for carrying out the bill? After all, they will blame the ruling DPP if execution of the bill fails," Hsieh said.
"We should stick to the Cabinet's version of the bill, if the ruling DPP administration is to be responsible for the execution of the policy," he said.
Meanwhile, Hsieh yesterday confirmed his plans to sue the Chinese-language United Daily News.
"The media is the fourth estate; it's not the fourth god. The media can't incriminate me given that the court had cleared me [from any involvement in the bribery scandal involving Kaohsiung City Council speaker election]," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said he should have sued the newspaper for slander 20 years ago when it allegedly libeled him for saying he was involved in an election scam.
"The United Daily News then proposed settling the case out of court and I agreed. But now I deeply regret not having sued the newspaper 20 years ago," the mayor said.
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