Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday criticized the Taoyuan County Government, accusing its commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) of misappropriating resources to boost the county’s population and upgrade it into a special municipality.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said public sector employees, including police officers, that successfully encourage people to settle in Taoyuan have been rewarded with gift certificates, bonuses and even vacation days.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday that Lin Chien-hsiang (林健祥), a local patrolman, would be rewarded with 54 merit points after successfully persuading 61 people to move their residences to the county.
“What kind of county commissioner does this?” DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) asked yesterday. “The police should be out there fighting crime. Instead they are busy encouraging people to change their residency.”
“To help Taoyuan’s chances of becoming a special municipality, Wu has gone completely crazy,” Chiu said, adding that there have been reports of county employees being made to tell their department heads why they have not encouraged people to move to Taoyuan.
These moves could land Wu in hot water if he is found to have broken the law, DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said, adding that there are a number of laws that prevent public sector employees from engaging in other tasks apart from their regular duties.
Taoyuan County officially reached a population of 2 million on Monday. Under the Local Government Act (地方制度法), counties that have a population above 2 million get the same privileges as special municipalities.
Special municipalities and provinces are the highest level of administration under Taiwan’s administrative divisions. They have more control over their finances and can receive an increased share of revenue from the central government.
Sinbei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Tainan are set to be upgraded into special municipalities, joining Taipei and Kaohsiung city in December. Kaohsiung County will also be merged with Kaohsiung City to become a special municipality by year’s end.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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