Procrastination is the best word to describe the governing style of incumbent Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
In what has come to be a daily attack on Ma, Lee yesterday said the current Taipei City government has been slow in carrying out reconstruction of the Chiencheng Circus, Pinchiang Market and the 14th and 15th public parks.
Lee made the remarks at press conference held with the DPP Taipei City Council Caucus.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The DPP candidate had earlier raised questions about delays hindering reconstruction work for the 14th and 15th public parks.
According to Lee, the Ma government said "reconstruction work is 0.02 percent ahead of schedule" in one case and that "reconstruction work is awaiting further opinion polls" in the other.
"How much ahead is 0.02 percent?" Lee asked. "And does it really take four years to conduct an opinion poll?"
The DPP candidate said his KMT rival shouldn't shirk responsibility.
Due to Ma's procrastination, Lee added, Taipei has been forced to pay higher capital costs over the four years the projects have been delayed.
In response to Lee's attacks, Taipei City spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (
"The Ma government does not procrastinate," Wu said. "On the contrary, Mayor Ma has initiated projects undertaken by no previous mayor, such as demolishing the city's dangerous slops to safeguard public safety."
As part of his campaign strategy, Lee has been firing a daily volley of criticism at Ma's government, raising one question a day about the city's major construction projects.
But so far Ma has kept his cool. Rather than directly responding to Lee's criticisms himself, he has assigned that task to department directors.
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