Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said yesterday he was displeased with the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait’s (ARATS) delayed response to the melamine scandal and will request that the Chinese side come up with more solutions during the meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in Taichung next week.
“I am disappointed and upset about ARATS’ response. The request will be filed during the meeting next week,” Yaung told legislators at the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday morning.
He said that ARATS’ response to the Sanlu group’s bankruptcy came too late and that more than 12 companies in Taiwan had no means to request compensation for the estimated losses of NT$700 million (US$21 million) they suffered during the tainted milk incident.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said the incident took place more than a year ago, when milk powder products from Sanlu, a Chinese manufacturer, tested positive for melamine. The SEF forwarded the compensation request from Taiwanese companies to ARATS on Jan. 5, but ARATS did not respond until June 22. ARATS’ second response arrived last month, when the DOH was told that Sanlu was out of business and had gone bankrupt.
Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) and other officials yesterday briefed Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on the topics to be discussed during next week’s talks in Taichung.
The briefing was scheduled for lawmakers across party lines, but no DPP members were present.
“Some DPP lawmakers came and left after complaining about the short notice,” Wang said.
Asked how the legislature could exercise its role in overseeing the four agreements to be signed in the talks given the government’s position that the deals will be submitted to the legislature after being signed and for reference only, Wang said that lawmakers have the right to demand deliberation.
“Lawmakers can demand review of the agreements. [However], as the session will end in just over a month’s time, maybe there won’t be enough time to review them,” Wang said.
The agreements will take effect automatically after 60 days.
In related news, deputy chief of the Taichung City police bureau Yu Hui-mao (余輝茂) said yesterday that traffic controls would be enforced from Dec. 18 through Dec. 24.
Taichungguang Road (between Dongda Road and Liming Road) will be closed off and traffic will be prevented from entering and exiting the Taichung Interchange to prevent interruptions to traffic flow along Freeway 1. Drivers will be asked to use the Daya or Nantun Interchanges.
Traffic controls will also be in place for the DPP march on Dec. 20 between 1pm and 6pm.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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