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.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS