The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday exchanged barbs over the former’s plan to finance flood control projects with a special budget originally intended to stimulate domestic demand.
The Executive Yuan yesterday insisted on diverting part of the funds to flood prevention despite DPP lawmakers’ reservations about the legality of the budget appropriation.
The legislature last week approved the Cabinet’s budget request of NT$130 billion (US$4.3 billion) tagged for spurring economic expansion, NT$58.35 billion of which would be allocated to 25 local governments for construction projects.
PHOTO: LIAO SHU-LING, TAIPEI TIMES
Following the recent flooding in central and southern Taiwan caused by Tropical Storm Kalmaegi, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) decided in a Cabinet meeting on Monday night that NT$41.364 billion, or 70 percent of the NT$58.349 billion, would be used for projects related to flood prevention.
The plan drew criticism from the DPP caucus, which said the Executive Yuan should either refer a motion to the legislature to reconsider the passed budget or seek a declaration of a state of emergency from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) before appropriating the funds.
At a press meeting yesterday morning, Shih Su-mei (石素梅), head of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, dismissed the DPP caucus’ suggestion. She cited Article 43 of the Disaster Prevention and Response Act (災害防救法), saying that the article entitled the government to make adjustments to the state budget in the event of a disaster.
PHOTO: HSIEH YIN-CHONG, TAIPEI TIMES
The DPP caucus cited Article 62 of the Budget Law (預算法), which prevents the diversion of public funds among different governmental agencies and for different purposes.
But Shih said that Article 43 of the Disaster Prevention and Response Act stipulates that all levels of governments shall not be subject to Article 62 of the Budget Law if the budget initially allocated for disaster relief is not enough to handle a disaster.
Later yesterday, Shih tried to play down the controversy surrounding the issue, saying that money needed for flood prevention projects would first be drawn from the “eight-year, NT$116 billion flood prevention and water management plan.”
The legislature approved the NT$116 billion budget in 2006 for the government to launch an eight-year, three-stage program to help prevent flooding in high-risk areas that included 1,150km² in central and southern Taiwan.
The Water Resource Agency said the first stage of the plan would be 90 percent completed by the end of this year, the second stage — budgeted at NT$44.5 billion — was scheduled for completion between this year and 2010, and the third stage would take place between 2011 and 2013.
As the second stage of the eight-year plan has already begun, the government would complete the projects for the second stage ahead of schedule and would appropriate more money for flood prevention projects from the economic expansion plan when necessary, Shih said.
At a separate setting, DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that if the Cabinet wanted to adjust the special budget, it should ask the legislature to call a special session to reconsider the budget bill.
The DPP caucus would refer Cabinet officials to the Control Yuan for investigation and possible impeachment if the Cabinet insisted on going ahead with the plan, he said.
Tsai said the latest move by the Cabinet showed that Liu was lying when he said it was “urgent and necessary” for the country to promote various projects to boost domestic demand.
The move also proved the so-called domestic demand-boosting projects were nothing but porkbarrel projects, he said.
DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said it was inconceivable that the KMT government was now accusing the former DPP administration of failing to improve the country’s flood prevention facilities.
It was the KMT that had delayed an eight-year flood prevention package put forth by the DPP administration, Lin said.
Because the budget for the package was only passed in 2006, after being proposed by the DPP administration in mid-2005, many flood prevention projects financed by the package were still in their initial stages as of June this year, she said.
KMT caucus secretary-general Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), on the other hand, urged the public to give the Cabinet credit for shouldering the responsibility and taking action to prevent flooding.
Saying that the Cabinet’s plan to spend the budget reserved for boosting domestic demand on flood prevention was legitimate, Chang urged the DPP caucus to throw support behind the Executive Yuan.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) also dismissed a DPP caucus suggestion that the Executive Yuan should ask the legislature to reconsider the government’s special budget.
“I believe it would be inappropriate because proposing reconsideration [of the domestic demand budget proposal] would only impede the nation’s ongoing infrastructure construction projects,” he said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang, Rich Chang and CNA
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
RSS