Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) yesterday accused Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) of wasting public funds by maintaining three offices in various locations in metropolitan Taipei.
Lung has offices in the Ministry of Culture building, the now-defunct Government Information Office (GIO) building and the Taipei office of the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, Huang told a news conference.
Huang described the minister as “Empress Lung,” saying she has wasted government resources for her personal pleasure.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Responding to Huang’s accusations, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said a Cabinet official does not need two or more offices.
Four ministries, including the Ministry of Culture, and other agencies are scheduled to move into a joint government office building in Sinjhuang District (新莊), New Taipei City (新北市), with the aim of saving public funds and increasing efficiency.
Hung Shih-yu (洪世佑), an official at the Ministry of Culture, said Lung is now using only one office, adding that the office in the GIO serves various functions and the one at the craft research and development institute would be used for the ministry’s media relations staff and congressional liaison officers after the ministry’s relocation to Sinjhuang.
Huang had also criticized Lung in March, alleging that the ministry had refused to move into the new government building and chose instead to pay rent to stay at its current location because its employees prefer to stay in downtown Taipei.
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