The DPP legislative caucus yesterday said it wanted the special NT$50 billion budget designed to combat the effects of the SARS outbreak to be passed as early as May 23.
"The party hopes that a quick passage will help the prevention and control measures benefit from financial aid as soon as possible," said Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the DPP caucus convener.
The extra NT$50 billion was part of the special regulation approved by the Legislative Yuan on May 2.
Ker said that, given the public apprehension over a worsening of the situation, the DPP will propose the speeding up of Premier Yu Shyi-kun's budget briefing at the legislature and finalize a review for the plan at an earlier date.
The briefing will be brought forward as early as May 16, Ker said.
"The passage should be expected at the legislative assembly on May 23, one week earlier than the scheduled agenda," he said.
According to the convener, the budget plan should be discussed at Friday's assembly when the Procedure Committee initiates the plan's legislative procedure tomorrow.
Noting that the speed-up would greatly benefit anti-SARS measures, Ker said that "opposition parties should echo the proposal based upon the legislative consensus that containing the outbreak is the first priority."
The KMT and PFP said they would endorse the proposal.
"The KMT will support all efforts to contain the epidemic since nothing is more important than fighting SARS," Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), said the KMT legislative caucus whip.
Tseng said that the Procedure Committee will lay out the budget plan tomorrow as long as the Executive Yuan can finalize the draft and send it to the legislature this afternoon.
"The party will help the review to be completed at top speed, but we will still carry out the opposition's duty to make sure the money is not used in vain," he said.
Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和), the PFP caucus convener, said: "The PFP will cooperate with every effort to restrain the epidemic," he said. "To fulfill our legislative responsibility, we will cautiously review the budget plan while putting forward the passage quickly."
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS