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Ma, Cabinet clash over flood funds

"Mayor Ma's rhetoric was very much not welcomed by the Executive Yuan."

Cho Jung-tai, Cabinet spokesman

An Executive Yuan official yesterday hit back at Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) criticism of the government's effort to seek an NT$80 billion special budget bill for flood control and prevention.

"Mayor Ma's rhetoric was very much not welcomed by the Executive Yuan," Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said at a press conference held to address the issue.

Cho was referring to remarks made by Ma on Sunday during a trip to flood-affected Yunlin County to drum up support for his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship bid.

Ma said that the Executive Yuan's NT$80 billion proposal to address the recent flooding "is an act that demonstrates it doesn't know how to govern the nation."

Cho yesterday accused Ma of "double standards."

He compared Ma's Sunday remarks to an incident three years ago when Ma was seeking support for a special budget for a Keelung River flood-prevention project.

At that time, Ma called on lawmakers from all parties to support the budget for Keelung River, Cho said.

Cho said that the KMT three years ago had wanted to convene a provisional session at the legislature and pass a budget for the Keelung River flood-prevention project.

Since the government passed a NT$30 billion budget bill in 2001 to clean up the Keelung River, Cho said, metropolitan Taipei has not been hit by flash floods.

"The case is completely the same this time, except with a change of location," Cho said, adding that "it's not just the Keeling River and Northern region that can [have a budget for flood-prevention projects] ... The remaining 19 cities and counties need protection [from flooding] just as much as Taipei City and County ... Time might have passed, but the reason is the same," Cho said

Cho said he hoped that both Ma and the KMT would throw their support behind the Cabinet's proposal to allocate NT$80 billion over eight years for a water drainage improvement program for the nation.

Cho said that the flood prevention bill, if passed, would be implemented from next year with an aim to complete all flood control and prevention projects in eight years.

In response, Taipei City Government spokesman Yu Tzu-hsiang (游梓翔) said that Ma was not using a double standard and that he supports flood control and prevention proposals that are well-mapped out and planned.
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