Chairmen and top executives of Veterans Affairs Council (VAC) natural gas reinvestment businesses have drawn NT$2 million to NT$3 million (US$63,763 to US$95,645) annual salaries, despite none of the 15 entities showing a profit that would have required them to deposit into a provident fund, a report by the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said.
Article 12 of the Privately Owned Public Utilities Supervisory Act (民營公用事業監督條例) stipulates that when “the net income of privately owned public utilities exceeds 25 percent of the total paid-in capital, half of such excess amount shall be used for the betterment and expansion of the equipment, while the remaining half shall be the users’ provident fund in the event of a fee-reduction.”
Data provided by the council showed that of the 15 businesses, six chairmen and five chief executives are retired military officials.
Amid accusations that the firms are haboring “fat cats,” questions have been raised over whether the top-tier salaries are linked to performance and whether they are affecting profits.
Council Deputy Director Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said the profitability of the natural gas reinvestment companies is higher than the reinvestment businesses of other government agencies and private natural gas companies, but the expenses have increased due to renovations and upgrades to pipelines, while natural gas prices have decreased greatly in the past few years.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said the council should put in place performance evaluation criteria for top executives to counter the appearance that the appointments are political rewards.
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said the council should undertake a review examining the qualifications of the executives.
Lee said the council is working on a performance evaluation system that would limit the term of a top executive director to three years and only those who score more than 90 points on a 100-point yearly evaluation could extend their terms.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS