Environmental activists yesterday accused the Water Resources Agency (WRA) of mismanaging the Water Quality Assurance fund by spending the money on roads, excursions and other unrelated items.
Led by Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers Huang Sue-yin (黃淑英) and Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), representatives of environmental protection groups accused the agency of collecting more than NT$3 billion (US$94 million) in the last five years but spending less than 2 percent on water quality improvement and research.
Taiwan Water Corp charges each household between 5 percent and 10 percent of its total bill as part of the fund.
Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association president Chen Shu-hua (陳淑樺) said they first noticed inconsistencies last month when they asked the agency to conduct a study on water conservation at Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), which has been plagued by an overaccumulation of silt.
The WRA rejected the request, citing lack of funds, Chen said.
“It is a mystery why the WRA claims it doesn’t have enough money to undertake the study when it collects a water conservation fee from the public each month,” Chen said.
WRA Deputy Director-general Wu Yueh-hsi (吳約西) rejected the allegations, saying all expenditure by the agency was legitimate and use of the fund is determined by local residents as stipulated in the 2004 amendment to the Tap Water Act (自來水法).
Wu said there are eight designated uses for the fund, including water conservation, ecological studies, water protection management and subsidies for job training and scholarships.
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