The Executive Yuan’s proposed budget for the so-called “development of aquatic environments” project of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program is “clearly insufficient” and would likely hamper efforts to prevent floods, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday.
The Cabinet introduced the aquatic environments program to facilitate the nation’s water distribution and improve drainage systems in flood-prone areas, and has planned a NT$250.7 billion (US$8.33 billion) budget out of the NT$890 billion earmarked for the infrastructure project.
KMT Legislator-at-large William Tseng (曾銘宗) said two of the three project objectives outlined by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration — ensuring steady water supplies and preventing flooding — would cost more than NT$220 billion, but the administration has not yet laid out any plans to assess the viability of the objectives.
Photo: CNA
He panned the administration for designating 43 areas as “highlights” for the program without informing the public how it intends to attain its goals, calling the move “dangerous.”
Flood prevention and stable water distribution affect people’s livelihoods and the Tsai administration should address the issues with prudence rather than advertising them as “highlights” of its governance, Tseng said.
Another plan to build waterfront parks, which would cost about NT$28 billion, is “not directly related to people’s safety” and should therefore be put on hold so the money could be used for water supply stabilization and flood prevention, he said.
The planned budget allocated for flood prevention is clearly insufficient, KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said, adding that the proposed projects do not address local governments’ flood prevention needs.
The Water Resources Agency plans to solve flooding in a 200km2 area, which is not enough, Chen said, citing Taoyuan’s Jhongli (中壢) and Gueishan (龜山) industrial zones as examples, which he said have long been neglected by the central government and have been excluded from the forward-looking project.
“Do not expect a quick solution to problems when formulating a plan,” KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said.
“The Tsai administration has neglected issues of illegal lumbering and building development in catchment areas, and instead proposes to spend large sums on dredging reservoirs,” Wang said.
“But how do we rid reservoirs of sediment without first stepping up efforts to protect river heads? How would water shortages be solved?” Wang added.
Instead of spending money on building waterfront parks, the government should address leakages during the water distribution process, as about 10 reservoirs worth of water is lost through leaking pipes every year, she said.
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS