The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday called for the Taiwan and Fujian provincial governments to be abolished.
"Both the ruling and opposition parties agree that there is no need for the Taiwan Provincial Government to exist. We hope that they would support its abolition, as well as abolishing the Fujian Provincial Government so that Kinmen and Matsu will fall under the direct supervision of the central government," DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said.
The Constitution stipulates that provincial governments and two special municipalities, Taipei and Kaohsiung cities, are one level higher than county and city governments.
There are 21 counties and cities technically under the Taiwan Provincial Government, while two counties -- Kinmen and Lienchiang -- are under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China's Fujian Provincial Government. Lienchiang County is the official administrative title for the Matsu archipelago.
The legislature has slashed NT$770 million (US$24.1 million) earmarked for the Taiwan Provincial Government this year, as well as NT$150 million for the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council.
In response, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has decided not to appoint a new line-up for Taiwan Province, a move that has been endorsed on both sides of the legislature.
Although constitutional amendments are needed to abolish the provincial administrations, Yeh yesterday argued that this may not be necessary if the central government instead revised two articles in the Law on Local Government Systems (
"We sincerely hope that the new Cabinet will propose draft revisions to the law soon and that the opposition parties will support a legal overhaul to help streamline government and establish a two-tiered system," Yeh said.
The Provincial Government has become virtually obsolete since it was downsized seven years ago.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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