The Cabinet yesterday approved a bill designed to set up regulations to bring supervision to the implementation of foreign aid projects to prevent problems that have frequently overshadowed the country’s foreign relief efforts.
“In the 21st century, the role our country plays should not only be as a practitioner of a democratic system but also as a participant in humanitarian services,” Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday quoted Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) as saying in a directive issued at the meeting.
MECHANISM
Should the draft bill pass the legislature, the government will be required to create a mechanism for planning international cooperation projects, conducting assessments, monitoring implementation and appraising performance, to make sure that funds for foreign-aid are spent appropriately.
In accordance with the bill, a fair and objective third party could be invited to assess whether an aid project proposed by the government fits in with the receiving country’s development strategy if it is a public construction program of more than US$5 million and is fully financed by the government.
The Cabinet yesterday also approved an amendment to the Fisheries Act (漁業法) that prohibits owners of fishing vessels from operating if their fishery licenses or licenses for fishing vessels are revoked.
Individuals who violate the regulation will be fined between NT$60,000 (US$1,860) and NT$300,000.
ILLEGAL FISHING
If the amendment clears the legislature, it will help the government’s crackdown on illegal fishing vessels, which frequently carry out unlawful fishing activities in international waters, Su said.
Meanwhile, Su said that Wu had asked the Department of Health (DOH) to expand the provision of methadone maintenance therapy after the DOH said that it had proved to be an effective treatment program.
NEW CASES
The DOH report showed that the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS had fallen by 48 percent from 3,384 in 2005 to 1,747 last year, thanks in part to the therapy, Su said.
Su said that the treatment helped reduce the number of heroin addicts contracting HIV/AIDS by 84 percent, from 2,381 in 2005 to 379 last year.
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