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Flying is cheaper than the bullet train, DPP tells Ma

“It cost NT$300 million to pay for the outing, including the high speed railway tickets, fuel for special agents’ vehicles, police vehicles, ships and helicopters ... Was [Ma] saving money and energy? I do not think so.”

Pan Meng-an, DPP deputy whip

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to use the presidential jet to get around the country instead of public transportation, which it said tended to result in a waste of money and public resources.

The caucus made the call in response to a report published in the latest issue of Next Magazine, which said that Ma spent NT$300 million (US$9.9 million) by leading government officials on a trip from Taipei to Kaohsiung on the high-speed rail to celebrate his inauguration on May 20.

It reported that 12,000 security personnel had been deployed to protect Ma and foreign dignitaries during the trip.

“It cost NT$300 million to pay for the outing, including the high speed railway tickets, fuel for special agents’ vehicles, police vehicles, ships and helicopters,” DPP deputy whip Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) told a press conference. “Was he [Ma] saving money and energy? I do not think so.”

The Presidential Office later yesterday rejected the magazine’s report as “pompous” and “false.”

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) told a media conference that Ma had in fact saved taxpayers money by taking the high-speed rail.

Although the legislature had earmarked a total of NT$50 million for the inauguration and celebrations, the total cost of the activities was NT$38 million, saving the treasury more than NT$10 million, Wang said.

He said the financial and environmental impact of using the presidential jet for the trip to Kaohsiung would have been much higher.

Wang said that only 1,200 security agents — not 12,000 — had been dispatched to protect the 100 guests who accompanied Ma on the high-speed rail.

He added that this was an expense that would only occur once every four years.

“President Ma will continue to take the high-speed rail if it is not absolutely necessary to take the plane,” Wang said.

As Ma is planning to visit Tainan and Kaohsiung on Saturday and Sunday, Wang said that the president would most likely to take the high-speed rail again.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
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