The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which has been left with only ceremonial functions after cross-strait negotiations were institutionalized and transferred to government agencies, is allocating more money for personnel than the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center has found in its latest report.
It called for an examination of the foundation’s functions to avoid government overlaps.
Its report showed that with the cross-strait negotiation mechanism having been established over recent years and the main role in negotiations transferred to the council and other government agencies, the SEF no longer has a substantial role in cross-strait negotiations.
However, the report found that the planned spending for personnel in the foundation’s NT$308 million (US$10.13 million) budget for next year has increased from NT$133.25 million last year and NT$152.61 million this year to NT$153.95 million next year — a 15.54 percent increase and a 0.88 percent increase respectively.
Average personnel spending for the foundation’s 113 workers next year is to be NT$1.362 million per person per year, which beats the NT$1.315 million of the MAC, the agency that supervises the SEF and has planned to allot NT$383.91 million for its 292 workers.
The foundation’s average salary is higher than that of the council, to which the Budget Center advised a re-deliberation.
For instance, SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) is paid a monthly wage as high as NT$247,000, which tops the NT$190,000 for an appointed head at any other ministry or department; the SEF also pays more than NT$100,000 to several of its directors, the report showed.
The center said it is unreasonable that SEF workers, who are not hired via national exams, are paid more than civil servants.
In recent years, the council’s subsidy has come to account for more than 60 percent of the foundation’s annual income, the report found.
The council’s NT$196 million subsidy for the foundation next year, for example, accounts for 67.69 percent of the SEF’s annual income; the SEF’s planned personnel expenditures of NT$153.95 million take up as much as 78.53 percent of such official support.
The center questioned the spending and said that excessive personnel expenditures would crowd out the operation of cross-strait business and be counterproductive.
When reached for comment, SEF spokesperson Ma Shaw-chang (馬紹章) said the SEF plays an important role in developing cross-strait relations, which involve various negotiations and arrangements.
The foundation is still irreplaceable, he said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS