Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka yesterday rejected claims by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) that the central government was trying to sabotage his administration.
At a question-and-answer session at the Kaohsiung City Council on Tuesday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭) suggested that due to a lack of cooperation from the central government, progress on major projects, such as the relocation of residents from Siaogang District’s (小港) Dalinpu Village (大林蒲) and the construction of a new yellow line on the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit system, have come to a standstill since Han took office on Dec. 25 last year.
He urged Han to do a live-stream video to address the issue.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
In response, Han said he would not only do a live-stream video, but would do so at Dalinpu Village — with its residents.
Since he took office, only one meeting has been held on the Dalinpu project, Han said, urging the central government not to sabotage Kaohsiung.
Kolas said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been in touch with the city government with regard to the Dalinpu project and has been facilitating its progress through the time of former premiers Lin Chuan (林全) and William Lai (賴清德) to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
In October last year, the ministry submitted the project to the Executive Yuan for review; in February, it invited the Kaohsiung Economic Development Bureau to a meeting to express its intention to continue with the project; in March, the city government expressed its support for the project and asked the Executive Yuan to approve it as soon as possible; and last month, the ministry and the city government attended an Executive Yuan review meeting where they both agreed to move forward on the project and the Executive Yuan ordered that progress be sped up, Kolas wrote on Facebook.
This month, the ministry and the city government agreed that in April 2021, they would begin quoting a price for the relocation of residents after assigning the land for a circular economy park, she wrote.
The ministry’s Industrial Development Bureau asked the city government to provide before May 8 an updated plan, schedule and funding proposal, she wrote.
The city government on Wednesday last week submitted the funding proposal and other information, and the bureau is working on forwarding the updated plan to the Executive Yuan, she added.
The Dalinpu project involves more than 300 hectares of land and would affect not only the development of the domestic petrochemical industry, but many families, she said.
Furthermore, the ministry is the one who has been proactive on the project, calling several meetings to track its progress and allocating funds to support it, she added.
Relevant agencies in the Kaohsiung City Government have also been cooperative, she said, adding that progress is being made.
As for transportation projects, between Lai’s premiership and Su’s, the central government has given the Kaohsiung City Government NT$8.4 million (US$266,413) to plan and assess a proposed extension of the Kaohsiung MRT from Siaogang Station (小港) to the Linyuan District (林園), she wrote.
Under the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, the central government has also given the city government an additional NT$85 million — NT$50 million for research on the feasibility of extending the metro system into Pingtung County and NT$35 million to plan the new yellow line, she wrote.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications have detailed records of the official documents and meetings on the projects, she wrote.
The mayor is welcome to attend today the Executive Yuan meeting in Taipei, which he has not attended for a long time, to clarify the issue, she added.
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