Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) yesterday voiced his support for raising water, electricity and retail gasoline prices.
The purpose would be to allow the utilities suppliers to provide better services, rather than to increase government revenues, Chen said.
Chen made the remarks in response to a suggestion to reform price-setting mechanisms for utilities made by Minister Without Portfolio Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) on Friday.
The government has an opportunity over the next two years to ameliorate the rigidity of the bureaucratic system, ease regulatory restrictions, “rationalize” utilities rates and reform the taxation system to usher in a new energy future for the country due to the absence of elections, Kuan said.
There is no reason not to raise utilities rates when deliberate suppression of oil and electricity prices has created huge losses for state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan and Taiwan Power Co, he said.
Taiwan, which boasts some of the cheapest electricity, water and gasoline rates in the world, should enhance market mechanisms and promote the rationalization of energy prices to encourage efficient use of energy resources, he added.
Chen agreed on the need to reform the price-setting mechanism through the application of market mechanisms.
However, he added that the government would also take into account the impact of the adjustments on disadvantaged people.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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