President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday blamed the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government for various problems facing the nation, including recent complaints about deteriorating services at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Ma said the public has expressed grave concern about problems concerning the international airport, which he said should have been dealt with 10 to 30 years ago.
“We are not shirking responsibility, but want the public to understand whose responsibility it is,” he said. “However, since we are in power, we are duty bound to fix the problems.”
Ma said because of his administration’s efforts, the transportation volume at the airport this year ranked first among Asia’s four tiger economies and exceeded that of Shanghai.
Ma, who doubles as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, made the remarks at the party’s headquarters after listening to a report delivered by Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) at the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday.
Yesterday also marked the last meeting of the committee. Party representatives will elect new members on Saturday. Twelve of the 32 committee members will not seek re-election.
At the meeting, Ma blamed the former DPP government for “starting late” in negotiations for direct cross-strait transportation links, undermining the chances of assuring the rights the country deserved.
Ma said many people complained that plane tickets were too expensive, but the transportation ministry and Straits Exchange Foundation have been doing their best to negotiate.
“It is an undeniable truth that Taiwanese airlines entered the market too late,” the president said. “That is why we cannot get a better deal.”
Regarding the long-standing problem of scarce Hualien-Taipei train tickets, Ma said the problem was “completely solved” and everybody could get tickets without much problem after more trains were transferred from the west coast.
He also urged the ministry to complete the improvement of service lines, as well as an environmental impact assessment for an alternative expressway as soon as possible.
Saying there was still room for improvement, Ma said that transportation was a service industry and the satisfaction level of its customers was of utmost importance.
In other news, the KMT is planning to hold rallies in Taipei City, Taipei County, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Tainan in the run-up to the Nov. 27 special municipal elections to celebrate the party’s 116th anniversary on Nov. 24.
Beginning Nov. 18, party heavyweights would participate in the events. They include Ma, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
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