The Council of Agriculture's (COA) Fisheries Agency under the officially relocated its headquarters from Taipei to Kaohsiung yesterday, making it the first administrative organization under the central government to make the move south.
Agency chief Hsieh Dah-wen (
"Seventy percent of sea fishing takes place out of ports in the south," Hsieh said. "In addition, most important aquaculture areas such as Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Tainan are also in the south."
Approximately two-thirds of the agency's permanent staff of 235 moved into the new headquarters yesterday. The new location is just a stone's throw from Kaohsiung's Chienchen Fishing Port (
The rest of the agency's staff will remain in Taipei at their current location, which will now become the agency's northern branch. However, Hsieh said the Taipei Office would no longer take up the whole building.
Most agency employees who made the move south will be leaving their families behind, at least for the time being, Hsieh said.
As a result, they will be given an extra NT$20,000 per month to help with the cost of extra housing down south and travel costs to visit their families.
There will also be additional costs associated with the move south as agency officials will need to travel to Taipei in order to meet officials from other agencies.
Hsie's move was scheduled for today because he was answering questions in the Legislative Yuan yesterday. However, his deputy James Sha (沙志一), reported the move went smoothly.
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