Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday instructed Cabinet officials to show more public empathy when drawing up policies as this defines the “value” of a government.”
Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-ping (蘇俊賓) said the premier relayed the instructions during a Cabinet meeting following the resignation on Wednesday of Lin Tyh-ming (林志明), the head of the Directorate General of Highways. Lin abruptly resigned amid rising public complaints over his handling of a government measure on paying vehicle fuel charges.
A contract with convenience store chains signed by the agency last year would have allowed the chainstores to raise commissions to NT$15 from NT$7 on overdue payments of fuel charges. Other financial institutions will continue to charge NT$7.
The measure, expected to take effect starting next month for commercial vehicles and in July for private vehicles, was called off after Wu voiced opposition.
Asked to comment on Lin's resignation, Su said Wu hoped the measure could be reversed because it would inconvenience the public.
Wu was quoted by Su as saying that Lin did not resign “over the NT$8” difference as some newspapers reported, but because the proposed change “would affect the public significantly.”
The measure approved by Lin was “wrong” and showed that Lin “did not have empathy with the people” and “was unaware of the value of the existence of a government,” Wu said.
Su denied, however, that Lin was forced to resign at the request of Wu.
Su said Wu also asked officials to conduct a thorough review of public measures to bring them in line with the principles of “sincerity” and “efficiency.”
Wu also told them that “a government will prosper if it is one with the people and will perish if it loses the hearts of the people,” Su said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), however, said Wu was practicing double standards, comparing Lin's case with that of Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良), whose plan to raise health insurance premiums has been widely criticized.
“Yaung has said the increase would be equivalent to NT$80,” Wang said. “NT$80 is a larger amount than NT$8, why doesn't Wu ask Yaung to resign?”
Meanwhile, Lin also wrote a letter to his staff yesterday, saying he was proud to be a member of the Directorate General of Highways.
He said in his letter that the agency had come to a crucial moment of change and has many things to accomplish this year and next year. They include 50 old bridges that need to be fixed and rebuilt, the reconstruction projects at the disaster areas and reforms at the vehicle management systems.
He also encouraged his staff to pursue self-improvement as times and the environment have changed.
“The mentality of a public servant — adhering only to the law and being passive — needs to be changed,” he said. “Without a detailed plan and caution in executing policies, one can be easily swayed by the changing environment and might lose the opportunity to make a difference.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY SHAN AND STAFF WRITER
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS