Staff Reporter
The recent political mudslinging over alleged corruption involving the use of discretionary government funds has exposed a lack of oversight over how public officials spend taxpayer dollars.
In an effort to mollify public outrage over the problem, Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"We want to avoid any potential for corruption. The `special allowance fund' mechanism must be made legal. This means that we will explain the importance of making it a law as soon as possible," Su said when approached by the press yesterday.
Ever since President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was embroiled in controversy over his use of the discretionary "state affairs fund," and now that Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) usage of his discretionary fund has been called into question, there have been calls to make clear regulations governing the matter, Su said.
Su said he had approved a proposal for the new regulations in October, which will become effective in January.
"We need to figure out whether there is a need for such funds, and what is the best way for us to use the money. This is an issue that concerns 6,500 government heads, who are using special allowance funds," Su said.
According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), about 6,500 government heads, including public school principals, are provided monthly "special allowance funds."
The total amount of taxpayer dollars used for such funds each month is NT$968 million (US$29 million). The amount of a particular fund depends on the rank and position of the government official who receives it.
Under the executive order that established the funds, the money is supposed to be used to pay for expenses incurred in the conduct of public duties.
Until the new rule becomes effective next year, officials can receive their monthly allowance at any time, simply by filling out a "claim form" in order to receive their funds.
In Ma's case, the mayor receives a monthly "special allowance fund" of NT$340,000. Ma's staff wires NT$170,000 of this fund along with his monthly paycheck -- NT$150,000 -- into his bank account each month.
This portion of his discretionary fund does not require independent accounting oversight, but does require the mayor to submit "claim forms" detailing how the funds were spent.
The other NT$170,000 is issued as reimbursements after receipts are submitted to the Ministry of Audit.
Statistics from the Ministry of Audit also outline how 1,001 government officials, who are serving the Cabinet, use their "special allowance funds." From January to June this year, they were entitled to spend NT$180 million in such funds.
Thirty-eight of the officials -- about 4 percent -- did not spend a single dollar of their funds. The rest of the officials spent all of their discretionary budget.
Regarding whether officials had used the money for personal expenses and had then submitted fake receipts to cover their tracks, Ministry of Audit Spokesman Wang Yung-hsing (
"In addition to corruption, people using fake receipts to apply for the money may be charged with forging government documents," Wang said.
"The money is definitely not a part of an official's monthly paycheck. That is why the `special allowance fund' is in a grey area, which is not protected or regulated by any laws," said DGBAS Minister Hsu Jan-yau (許璋瑤).
Regarding the executive order that becomes effective on Jan. 1, Hsu said that the new rule will help solve 99 percent of the current flaws in the system because "officials will not have access to the money anymore," Hsu said.
Wei Duan (
"Everybody is greedy. That is the biggest problem," Wei said.
Wei said that the "special allowance fund" was designed as petty cash for officials to use when carrying out their duties. However, it is human nature that people would definitely grab what they could.
"So long as the money is not being used for what it was designed for, it is not right. Period," Wei said.
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
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,