The fight among local governments and lawmakers over the terms of the controversial "tax redistribution fund" (
The national dailies reported yesterday that the Cabinet is considering revising the existing quota of the fund, favoring a proposal to reduce the current 47 percent of the funds given to Taipei and Kaohsiung cities to 43 percent while raising the quota for county governments.
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said the issue had been "politicized," while Hsieh said the reduction of the quota for both special municipality governments, if carried out, would cause "immediate and apparent damage."
Four KMT lawmakers from Taipei and Kaohsiung also held a press conference yesterday to urge the central government to secure the existing quota of the overall fund allocated to the two cities.
But after lobbying Cabinet members in a closed door meeting during the intermission of the general interpellation session in the legislature, KMT Lawmaker Huang Chao-shun (
"I am not optimistic," Huang said, adding she is considering launching a protest along with Kaohsiung city residents against the Executive Yuan if the new quota scheme falls short of their expectations.
Three county commissioners have been selected to attend today's Executive Yuan meeting on behalf of other county and city leaders. Two of them took issue with the central government as well as their counterparts in Taipei and Kaohsiung cities.
"The likely new scheme is unacceptable," Taipei County Commissioner Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) told the Taipei Times.
"Both 47 percent and 43 percents are numbers that should be abandoned once and for all," Su said. "The spirit of the tax redistribution fund is to reduce the differences between town and country."
Su claimed that the current fixed quota system simply failed to achieve such an objective.
To achieve this goal, the central government should instead adopt an allocation formula that takes into consideration various localities' populations, existing tax revenues and demands for infrastructure, he added.
According to Ministry of Fin-ance regulations, the allocation of these funds is determined by a fixed quota system.
The existing quota allows special municipalities, counties and townships respectively to receive 47 percent, 35 percent and 12 percent of the fund. Of the 47 percent allocated to the two special municipalities, Taipei gets 74 percent and Kaohsiung 26 percent.
Another chosen representative, Hualien County Commissioner Wang Chin-feng (
"President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that the central government would treat local governments in a fair manner in the same way parents should treat their children. Instead of only paying lip service to us, it's time that the president does something to carry out his promises," Wang said.
Despite being lobbied and pressured from all sides, Premier Tang Fei (
"We have not reached any final decision so far as this issue involves various complex problems," Tang said yesterday afternoon after the end of the general interpellation session in the legislature.
Tang, however, exchanged opinions with Cabinet members over the issue last night at the Executive Yuan.
Starting at 8:30am today, Tang will convene a meeting with members of the Cabinet to decide a proposal for adjusting the percentage of the fund, but the final decision will be reached at the Cabinet's weekly meeting later in the morning.
(See Alos:Cities)
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
RSS