|
Groups say Red Cross is rich enough
ZERO-SUM:
Local NGOs say the group receives enough money from donations and that government subsidies should be shared equally among all the social groups
By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Mar 15, 2007, Page 4
A lawmaker and non-governmental organizations (NGO) accused the government yesterday of unfairly subsidizing the Red Cross of Taiwan while leaving other organizations in financial difficulty.
Since 1984, the government has given the Red Cross subsidies totalling more than NT$500 million (US$15.1 million).
Many NGOs claim this is unfair.
The Red Cross "should not be the only privileged one, as each social group is contributing in its own way," said Chang Yu-chin (張玉琴), secretary-general of the Alliance for Old People's Welfare Promotion. "The government has to be fair."
"If a social group which receives [NT$]700 million in donations annually needs government subsidies, how can the other social groups survive?" Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) asked.
The Red Cross' financial report showed that it received donations worth more than NT$248 million in 2004, a figure that leaped to NT$710 million the following year.
On the other hand, the alliance received only NT$7 million in government subsidy for seven projects they completed for the Ministry of Interior last year, Chang said.
To break the monopoly, the lawmaker and NGO leaders asked the government to distribute the money equallyto all social groups.
"Subsidies should be available to all social groups," said Wu Tung-ju (吳東儒), secretary-general of the Alliance for Handicapped People.
The Red Cross, however, saw things differently.
"We're not a regular social group ... we're not competing with them," said Lin Hsiu-fen (林秀芬), a Red Cross official.
She said the Red Cross has a special status and is neither a governmental organization nor a standard NGO.
While the Geneva Convention requires signatory governments to help maintain Red Cross organizations in their countries, "we're not entitled to receive the 30 million government budget for social groups," she said. "We're also the only NGO that has government representatives serving on the board of directors."
Calling the Red Cross the only international disaster relief organization in Taiwan, Vice Minister of the Interior Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) yesterday said her ministry was obligated by domestic law to subsidize the organization.
Additional reporting by Max Hirsch
This story has been viewed 1651 times.
|
Print
Mail
wiki links