Premiere Yu Shi-kun yesterday made a public pledge to the residents of Tainan, promising that a new railway line and a man-made lake in the Tainan area would be included in the Cabinet's five-year, NT$500 billion public construction project.
"The 10 new projects included in the public construction project can be seen as an effort to nurture chickens that will eventually lay eggs. The next generation will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor, and the debt incurred is not unreasonable," said Yu, who was visiting the construction site of the Tainan High Speed Railway (HSR) station.
Yu explained that the inclusion of a man-made lake to be built in the Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park was logical. "The Industrial Park cannot lack water," he said.
According to Yu, the lake will cover an area of 390 hectares and cost around NT$30 billion to complete.
Since two of Tainan County's primary reservoirs, the Tseng Wen and Wu Shan, are reaching low levels of water, the man-made lake can provide a solution to the lack of water, Yu said.
In addition, the promised Shaluen railway line will prove important as a link between the High-Speed Railway and the Taiwan Railway Administration's (TRA) rail system and will share stations with both. The 6.4 km Shaluen line will take three to four years to complete and cost NT$ 4.8 billion to build.
The new railway line will be administered by the TRA with trains running about every 15 to 20 minutes. Together with the HSR, the line will facilitate economic development in Tainan City and Tainan County, Yu said.
Despite the Cabinets plans, the construction project has yet to be approved by the Legislative Yuan.
"Currently, opposition legislators have expressed their disagreement with the projects, preventing the projects from being included in the legislative agenda" Yu said.
The debt the projects would incur is also an obstacle. However, Yu explained the nation's debt situation.
"Taking into account the government's emergency spending, as well as interest, the deficit spending in the past four years has been around NT$92.6 billion each year," he said.
He went on to compare the figures to those from the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) administration: "From 1990 to 2000, the KMT government averaged roughly NT$194 billion in deficit spending -- about NT$100 million more than the Chen administration," Yu said.
To those who oppose the projects, Yu said: "If Taiwan does not plan for these construction projects, we will fall behind."
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