Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday criticized the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) for continuing to stall on a NT$231 million (US$7 million) budget request for the World Games, despite the fact that the international sports event is fast approaching.
With less than a month to go before the Games begin, the city government has not received financial assistance from the SAC, even though the city government has approached the council on 10 occasions, Chen told a press conference.
Chen said the Legislative Yuan earlier this year approved NT$845 million in funding for the World Games, but the SAC was only willing to grant the city government NT$614 million. The shortfall of some NT$231 million has seriously affected the city government’s preparations for the Games, she said.
PHOTO: CNA
The SAC has not granted the city government funds for the rent of the Kaohsiung Arena, making it impossible for dance sports and gymnastics to be held at the venue, Chen said, adding that the council had also slashed the funding for the opening and closing ceremonies and related cultural activities, seriously undermining the city government’s efforts to promote tourism during the Games.
“Sports should transcend politics. Do you really have to corner us so much so that we have no way out?” Chen said.
The city government has repeatedly complained that central government is unwilling to support the city in hosting the event since the SAC froze most of the World Games Kaohsiung Organizing Committee’s (KOC) budget in late February.
Ten Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors yesterday urged Chen to hit out at SAC Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) by denying her a VIP invitation to the Games.
DPP councilors Cheng Kuang-feng (鄭光峰) and Chen Hsin-yu (陳信瑜) called Tai “incompetent,” saying that she should step down over the SAC’s lack of support for the Games.
In response, SAC Deputy Minister Chen Hsien-chung (陳顯宗) said the council had provided Kaohsiung City Government with NT$610 million in subsidies to host the Games. As of yesterday, the city had only used about NT$300 million, he said.
The SAC has no idea where the NT$231 million shortfall in the budget relate to, he said.
Chen Hsien-chung said the city government had inflated the budget, adding that the International World Games Organization has a rule that only 200 special guests be invited to the Games, but that the city government planned for 400 special guests in its budget.
While the SAC understood the need to hire tour buses to transport athletes, Chen Hsien-chung said the city decided to pay bus operators for the number of trips they make each day, rather than paying for exclusive daily use of the buses, which was also not common practice.
The SAC has already allocated a budget for marketing the World Games, he said, adding that the city government wants to budget more for marketing efforts that are redundant.
He advised the city to spend more time finishing preparations for the Games rather than engaging in political bickering.
In related news, the city’s Urban Development Bureau has posted 160 panoramic photographs of 140 scenic spots in Kaohsiung with both Chinese and English descriptions on Google Earth in a bid to promote the city ahead of the Games.
The photographs are available at www.ideaforaction.org.tw and urban-web.kcg.gov.tw.
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