Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chi (
"It looks as if `although I did not kill Bo Ren (伯仁), Bo Ren died because of me,'" Kuo said, using a Chinese idiom from the Jin Dynasty that signifies "guilt through inaction."
"The TRA is one of the organizations covered by the ministry," Kuo said, "I feel I owe the public an official apology."
Kuo made the apology right before she reported to the legislature's transportation committee concerning the rules that would allow tourists from China to visit Taiwan.
However, the legislators barely showed any interest in Kuo's presentation of the new regulations. Instead, they continued to question Kuo on the accident and what she would do to reform one of the nation's oldest state-run operations.
Kuo emphasized yesterday that what disappointed her most is that despite the ministry's comprehensive list of safety rules, this has failed to prevent tragic accidents from happening.
The problem, she said, lies in the lax enforcement of these rules.
Lawmakers serving on the transportation committee also referred to some of the problems facing TRA.
Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) of the People's First Party (PFP) pointed out that the average age of TRA's employees is 52 years old, and the administration has not refilled any job vacancy since 1990.
Liu added now that the TRA has been entrusted with the task of constructing the mass rapid transit system together with Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), TRA' s workload has increased but it continues to suffer from a shortage in manpower.
Liu also suggested that the ministry follow the model practiced by the former Taiwan Provincial Government, in which children of the deceased employees would be recruited to work in the TRA or in other related positions in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Despite the legislators' suggestion, the youngest son of Wu yung-cheng (
"I will not consider it [the offer]," he said, "After all that has happened to us and the treatment that we got [from the TRA], it just goes to show that there is no job security at all," Wu said.
Meanwhile, back in the legislature, PFP Legislator Lee Hung-chun (
Before TRA altered its timetable last year, its trains' accumulative minutes of delay reached 13,878 within a 10-day period. However, this figure further rose to 14,011 after it changed the timetable. On average, the delay each day would take almost a day.
Lee also noted that a prior agreement mandated that THSRC reimburse TRA with approximately NT$3.92 billion for allocating two of its railway stations for THSRC's usage. So far, THSRC has only given a compensation of NT$300 million to TRA.
Ministry officials said they would carefully look into these issues and respond with an official statement within three days.
TRA's acting director-general Hsu Yi-nan (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Tuoh (王拓) interrupted Hsu's remarks, saying that financial losses are merely an excuse for its management problems.
"What do management problems have to do with financial losses?" Wang asked, adding that the government would handle the losses.
"The poor management has simply added to the losses and is simply a demonstration of the inefficiency of the agency," Wang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) called for more prudence in selecting a new head for the TRA.
Wang said that the former director-general, Hsu Da-wen (
Kuo said that any candidate will be given a test before he or she is offered the position.
According to the minister, each candidate will be given questions on subjects such as how to improve workplace safety or eliminate train delays, and will be evaluated based on the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
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