Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Su said he wanted to make it easier for the Tainan City Government by reducing the percentage of the budget for the project that the local government is responsible for.
"It is my understanding that this project has been pending for 14 years because the Tainan City Government has been suffering from financial problems. I am here to solve their problems," Su said.
The premier made the remarks during a visit to Tainan yesterday.
He said that the Tainan City Government had been asking for a reduction of the percentage of the budget that the local government should fund itself, but the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was concerned about funding part of the project.
"If the ministry allows such a demand, then other cities and counties will file the same request, and the government is not rich enough to take care of everybody's problems at the same time," Su said.
The Tainan City Government said that the idea to relocate the railways was first proposed 14 years ago and submitted for the first time to the Cabinet for review in 2004.
However, the project had never been carried out because of financial problems.
The entire project would cost approximately NT$29.5 billion (US$894 million).
Originally, the Tainan City Government would have had to cover funding for 24 percent of the budget, approximately NT$7.1 billion.
Su yesterday promised that the Tainan City Government would only have to take care of 12.5 percent of the project's price tag, amounting to approximately NT$3.7 billion.
The construction is expected to be completed in 2015.
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