None of the Taipei mass rapid transit (MRT) system's expansion projects will be affected even if the budget plan for the 10 New Major Construction Projects, under which the MRT expansions are included, fails to clear the legislative floor this session, Taipei MRT authorities said yesterday.
Central government officials said yesterday that they are confident that the five-year, NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) budget plan for the 10 New Major Construction Projects will be passed by the Legislative Yuan before this current session wraps up in early June.
Opposition legislators, however, have sworn to boycott budgets for some of the projects, saying that those project plans are "illegal and unconstitutional."
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) authorities said yesterday that the central government has committed NT$17.71 billion (US$536.66 million) for this fiscal year to aid the development of new lines or extensions of existing lines of the Taipei MRT system.
Of the total, only NT$2.46 billion will be financed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, while the bulk of the budget, or NT$15.25 billion, will be allocated by the central government under the five-year, NT$500 billion budget plan.
The development of new lines and extensions of the Taipei MRT system that are supposed to be financed by the five-year, NT$500 billion budget plan include new lines connecting Taipei City with Hsinchuang and Luzhou; new lines connecting Taipei City and Neihu, Tucheng and Hsiaopitan and extensions of the existing Hsinyi line and Sungshan line.
The TRTC authorities said that if the 10 New Major Construction Projects budget plan is not passed, the MRT company will ask the Taipei Municipal Bureau of Finance to borrow the funds to finance the MRT construction from local banks so that planned projects will be carried out as scheduled.
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