The government boasts that it has already carried out 173 of the 414 original policy objectives it had set itself, and is working on another 198. However, how far does this accurately reflect the truth? Anyone with a basic grasp of what the central government has been up to over the past few years will shake their heads at this assertion. Its so-called “achievements” are full of holes and are misleading to say the least.
Let’s look at the government’s promise to promote ecological science parks, something planned when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was still in power. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) merely inherited the policy, and is now taking the credit for the results.
When the DPP was in government, it planned to have green science parks open for business and the companies all moved in in Greater Kaohsiung, Hualien, Greater Tainan and Taoyuan by June 2006, October 2008, December 2008 and July 2009 respectively. All of this was instigated under the DPP administration, but then Ma took over and saw it through to the end.
If he’s going to claim credit for the green science parks, he should at least come clean about the DPP’s role in their foundation.
Here’s another good one: Four years ago, Ma promised a reforestation drive as part of the “12 i-Taiwan Projects” policy, a promise he never kept.
He said that within eight years he would see the creation of 60,000 hectares of forest land. According to Forestry Bureau statistics, the actual area of new woodland in 2008 was 310 hectares, with another 346 in 2009. If you were to believe Ma’s review report, you would think 14,967 hectares of forest had been created in 2008, followed by another 5,537 in 2009. That makes a total of 20,504 hectares in two years. It does seem that one’s audacity is the true measure of one’s achievement.
The 12 i-Taiwan Projects also included the construction of an MRT connection linking the planned Taoyuan Aerotropolis to the surrounding transportation network.
According to the report, the project is way ahead of schedule, with 70.78 percent of the work complete at the end of April this year, instead of the expected 69.5 percent. The reality is somewhat different. At the time of writing, only 5km of track had been laid. It is actually substantially behind schedule.
Of course, there are a pile of other bounced checks we could mention. Ma also said, for example, that he would oversee the establishment of a department of cultural tourism within a year of becoming president, which would be allocated 4 percent of the total budget before the end of his first term.
Three years down the line and this new department has yet to materialize. Even if the government is reorganized next year, tourism will still be the remit of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, so any talk about merging culture and tourism is just empty rhetoric.
Ma also promised the provision of long-term care for senior citizens, something else he is welching on.
It also seems to have escaped the government that the population is aging and that the amount of money invested in long-term care for the elderly actually went down to NT$2.3 billion (US$80.2 million) last year from NT$3.1 billion in 2008, when Ma took over.
The above examples are merely the first that come to mind. The government should come clean about them.
Lee Ying-yuan is a former secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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