Wrapping up a weeklong assessment of post 921-reconstruction work, a panel of opposition lawmakers vowed yesterday to cut perks for officials heading the reconstruction task force to punish them for inefficiency.
The panel also reiterated an intention to push for the impeachment of Huang Jung-tsun (
"The efforts to rebuild quake-affected areas have been disappointingly slow," said KMT lawmaker Wu Den-yi (
"We will ask the legislature to reject the final account report for the 2001 special budget to protest the administrative ineptitude," he said.
"Also, we intend to deny incumbent commission officials NT$5.28 million in public relations expenses for next year," he said.
A massive temblor, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck Taiwan on Sept 21, 1999, leaving 2400 people dead and another 8,000 injured. The natural disaster, the biggest in a century, also reduced hundreds of thousands of houses to debris.
Wu cited a report by the Ministry of Audit as saying the recovery commission used only 21.9 percent of its phase-one budget in 2001 and that the figure plunged to "zero" during the second phase.
"One cannot even bear to see the commission's own findings which put the rate at 31.9 percent and 23 percent for the same period respectively," the KMT legislator said.
The Ministry of the Interior tops the inefficiency list for spending only NT$2.3 million of the NT$1.6 billion intended for assorted relief and aid programs under its charge, according to the audit report.
"The ministry's failure to distribute these funds may have contributed to the rise of suicide among quake victims," Wu said.
Statistics show that in 2001, 124 residents of Nantou County, the hardest-hit area, committed suicide.
The tourist industry, from which many in the mountainous county draw their income, has plunged into depression following the calamity.
Independent lawmaker Sisy Chen (
"Despite his lackluster performance, Huang made the Cabinet raise his discretionary budget from NT$70,000 to NT$141,000 a month on par with that of the premier," Chen said, backing up her charge with the commission's internal documents.
She added that Huang's deputy, Chen Ching-huang, succeeded in raising his discretionary budget to that of the vice premier while other commission officials enjoyed a sum equal to that of Cabinet ministers.
Saying that none of them deserved the raises, the independent legislator and other opposition colleagues demanded they return the money.
PFP lawmaker Chou Hsi-wei (
The task force has accomplished little except for giving a bunch of activities to entertain quake victims in the past years, he said.
The group of legislators urged the government to lower interest rates for quake victims borrowing from banks, noting that some business groups enjoy interest rates as low as 1 percent.
See stories:
921 Aftermath: Surviors rebuild their lives
921 Aftermath: Director defends handling of earthquake's aftermath
921 Aftermath: Quake victims struggle with government regulations
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