The Taipei City Council is expected to pass a NT$6.68 billion (US$208 million) budget the Cabinet allocated to the Taipei City Government today as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors challenged the city government’s capability to boost the municipal economy in the long term.
The Cabinet had budgeted NT$116 billion to boost domestic demand and allocated NT$58.3 billion to 25 local governments in proportion to the population of each city and county, with the funds to be used in construction projects proposed by local governments.
In response to the Cabinet’s demand that local governments should subcontract the construction projects by the end of this year, the council yesterday held a two-day provisional meeting to review the budget proposal and is expected to pass the proposal today as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has a majority on the council.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Seeking its approval for the proposal, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday reported the proposal to the council, saying that all departments had considered the long-term effects of the construction projects on municipal development before drawing up their plans. Hau urged councilors to support the budget for municipal development.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤), however, condemned the city government for allocating almost half of the construction budget in advance in order to dodge examination by the council.
Of about NT$3.4 billion of the budget remaining, NT$2.2 billion was given to restart construction projects suspended because of soaring raw material prices, so the council would have no choice but to pass that section as the suspended projects had already been approved, Wu said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) joined Wu and other DPP members in criticizing Hau and the city government for failing to present a comprehensive budget proposal and for abusing the budget.
“The budget is a gift falling from the sky, but it doesn’t mean that the city government can use the money for whatever it wants,” Chien said.
The construction project for sports facilities for next year’s Taipei Deaflympics, which was budgeted at NT$2.1 billion, accounted for the biggest part of the budget, followed by NT$500 million budgeted to the 2010 Taipei International Expo, and NT$300 million for the Shezi Bridge project.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all