Lawmakers serving on the Legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday asked the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to raise the percentage of local workers and Aborigines employed at free trade ports in an amendment to the Act Governing the Establishment and Management of Free Trade Ports (自由貿易港區設置及管理條例).
Article 11 in the statute requires that business owners inside free trade ports hire Aborigines, who must account for 5 percent of their total employees. Those who fail to reach the 5 percent threshold must pay a deficiency subsidy. The same article also requires that local employees account for at least 60 percent of the total workforce at a company.
The amendment does not change the regulations for local employees, but has dropped the percentage of Aborigines from 5 percent to between 1 percent and 3 percent.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠) said the ministry should set identical standards for jobs reserved for Aborigines in both free trade ports and a draft bill that will govern the establishment and management of the Taoyuan International Airport Zone. The latter has yet to be passed by the legislature.
The Council of Economic Planning and Development previously oversaw the statute.
“Since the ministry has already set a 3 percent requirement in the airport zone, why don’t they have the same requirements here [free trade ports]?” Tsao asked.
Another KMT legislator, Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福), who is an Aborigine, said that there were 97 companies operating at the free trade ports and that only 16 of them had fulfilled the government’s requirement.
He said that a majority of them had failed to observe the rule, not because they were unable to find qualified personnel who were Aborigines, but because they wanted to hire foreign laborers.
Yang later asked a representative from the Council of the Indigenous Peoples whether he had been approached by any company in the free trade ports to recommend potentially qualified candidates. The representative said they had recommended some, but none of the companies wanted to hire them.
“Everybody says they love Taiwan, but they don’t love my people [Aborigines],” Yang said. “They say they can’t find workers, but that is just an excuse. The government has offered these companies many tax benefits. How can they simply ignore the rules and disregard the interests of local employees?”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) said that only those companies that have more than 100 employees can fulfill the 1 percent requirement and that only three companies in the free trade ports have more than 100 employees.
KMT Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said now that the nation is suffering an unemployment rate of about 6 percent, the ministry should increase the number of local workers and Aborigines required to help create job opportunities.
The committee is scheduled to continue its discussion of the amendment today.
Commenting on the proposed amendment, Association for Taiwan Indigenous People’s Policies member Hsiao Shih-hui (蕭世輝) said it has always been the group’s view that “the percentage of employment opportunities for Aborigines should be protected so that it is the same as the percentage of Aborigines in the population.”
Aborigines account for about 2 percent of the total population.
Taiwan Aboriginal Society chairman Wang Ming-huei (汪明輝) supported Hsiao’s idea.
“It’s unacceptable to cut the percentage to below the percentage of Aborigines in the population — the reduction from 5 percent to 1 percent is too much,” Wang said.
He also criticized the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) for not trying to stop the plan during a Cabinet meeting.
“The CIP is not speaking for Aborigines,” he said.
Obay a Awi, the Saisiat National Assembly spokesman, said the revision is “something that all Aborigines — not only Saisiat — should oppose.”
CIP Health and Social Welfare Department Director Alang Manglavan said the council would respect whatever decision the Cabinet and legislature made.
“As part of the Cabinet, we respect the Cabinet’s position on the issue. As the amendment has been submitted to the legislature for review, we will fully respect the legislature’s decision on it,” he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS