Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) reaffirmed yesterday that a Guggenheim branch in the central Taiwan city will not be a liability, adding that he won't do anything that will leave large debts for future generations.
Hu was responding to a challenge by Taichung City Councilwoman Lin Pei-le who asked the mayor to vow on the fortune of himself and his family, that a Taichung branch of the Guggenheim Museum won't leave huge debts in the future.
The Taichung City Council is currently reviewing the initial agreement on building the branch signed between the Taichung government and the prestigious museum earlier this month. Most of the members of the reviewing group of the city council and several lawyers taking part in the review said that this is an "unequal" contract for Taichung City.
Lin noted that the Taichung City Government has to pay expenses of up to NT$15.8 billion (US$468.84 million), including construction costs, management bills, funding for collecting artistic works, development costs, subsidies and other miscellaneous fees to establish the branch.
The mayor said categorically that he will never leave behind huge debts for the nation's children, adding that anyone who had read the feasibility study of the Guggenheim branch project will understand that its financial assessment is stated quite clearly, and that it will "bring prosperity to Taichung's service sector."
"If we leave huge debts to our children, do you think the Central Government will support us and subsidize the budgets? "
Hu asked, referring to earlier promises in August by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Premier Yu Shyi-kun to support the project.
Hu said that even before the Guggenheim branch comes to Taichung, it has already brought benefits to the city, meaning that land values have increased sharply, especially the land surrounding the scheduled construction site of the branch.
On question that the agreement is unfair, Hu said that the agreement only stipulates the payment Taichung City has to make, and does not cover the benefits brought with the establishment of the branch.
He urged a "different and a broader perspective" to look at the matter, saying that the fund for artistic collection belongs to the branch and the city, which can hardly be called a debt to the central Taiwan city.
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