More than 40 draft bills regarding government restructuring plans at the Cabinet level are expected to be approved by the Executive Yuan on Thursday, a source with close knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
Conclusions have been reached on the proposed upgrade of the Environmental Protection Administration, but contrary to proposals made during previous discussions, only part of the Water Resources Agency’s responsibilities would be transferred to the proposed ministry, the source said, adding that officials at the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration have decided to divest the agency of about half of its tasks.
Tasks pertaining to economic growth — such as the appropriation of water for industrial use and river remediation projects — would remain under the agency’s jurisdiction, while tasks associated with conserving water resources would be moved under the purview of the proposed ministry of environmental resources, the source said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
The planned ministry of environmental resources has been dubbed the “grand ministry,” as its responsibilities would cover some tasks previously undertaken by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Council of Agriculture, the source added.
The Executive Yuan has prioritized 44 bills on the restructuring of Cabinet-level agencies for review during the current legislative session, of which the bill on restructuring the Mainland Affairs Council has passed a preliminary review.
Meanwhile, the debate over delegating the oversight of national parks has been settled, with the Ministry of the Interior being tapped to continue managing the parks after Premier William Lai (賴清德) acted as a mediator between Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) and concerned agency heads, the source said.
Lai also sought the opinion of Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers, none of whom objected to the arrangement, the source added.
The proposed government restructure was launched in 2012 following the passage of amendments to the Organic Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法) in 2010.
However, the task has met with many obstacles, as agencies whose staff or responsibilities are set to be reduced have protested, with some even lobbying legislators to intercede.
Six proposed restructuring plans have yet to be completed, including plans to reform the Ministry of the Interior, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as well as the proposed ministries: the ministry of environmental resources, the ministry of economic affairs and energy, the ministry of transportation and construction and the ministry of agriculture.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
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Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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