Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday defended the city’s use of debt financing for major infrastructure projects, dismissing criticism that it would saddle future generations with massive debts and saying the city had repaid more than NT$91 billion (US$310 million) of its debt to the central government.
An Executive Yuan proposal to adjust the debt ceilings of local governments has sparked a wave of protests from local government officials. Hau has been the most vocal in criticizing the proposal, with the city government estimating that Taipei would see its debt threshold cut by NT$225 billion. The Ministry of Finance estimates that the adjustments would allow Taipei to borrow a maximum of NT$85.5 billion.
Hau said most of the loans had been used on major infrastructure projects, including MRT line extensions, since he took the office six years ago, adding that the city continues to repay its debts.
“It takes at least nine or 10 years to complete a public construction project, and it will be very challenging for the city to finish those projects if its debt ceiling is lowered,” Hau said at Taipei City Hall.
Responding to Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford’s (張盛和) suggestion that local governments cancel fireworks shows and large-scale New Year countdown activities amid financial difficulties, Hau said the annual Taipei 101 firework shows and countdown party had become a major event attracting millions of dollars in business opportunities.
“I agree that we should cut government spending at such a difficult time. However, the annual New Year countdown party has not only boosted the city’s international profile, but it has also attracted business opportunities that have lifted the city’s economy,” he said.
Quoting former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Hau said: “Thrift is a virtue, and consumption is a merit.”
The mayor added that boosting the local economy by promoting large-scale activities should be encouraged.
According to Taipei City’s Department of Tourism and Information, the budget for the upcoming New Year’s Eve countdown is NT$8 million, while Taipei 101 Mall is seeking sponsors for its Taipei 101 fireworks show.
The city’s New Year’s Eve countdown party has attracted more than 1 million local and foreign visitors annually, boosting businesses for the hotel, retail and many other sectors, the department said.
The city government has no plans to cancel or make any changes to this year’s activities, it said.
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
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,