An evaluation report published by the legislature’s Expenditure Examination Committee said the Council for Cultural Affairs’ Republic of China Centenary Foundation was suspected of circumventing budgeting examinations by the legislature and was not acting in accordance with the Charity Donations Act (公益勸募條例).
CIRCUMVENTION
The report said the council also appeared to have run into roadblocks supervising spending on the centenary celebrations, as such supervision is the responsibility of the foundation.
The Council for Hakka Affairs has also failed to explain what uses it would make of the NT$45 million (US$1.5 million) it has requested for next year’s centenary activities, which makes it difficult for the legislature to evaluate its budgeting, the report said.
AVOIDANCE
The report said three other committees and foundations under the Executive Yuan had similar responsibilities in planning and executing activities as part of centennial celebrations of the Republic of China. However, those organizations were suspected of evading the legislative budgeting evaluation through overlapping responsibilities, the report said.
The report said that while the organizations were not prohibited from accepting donations, they were not permitted by the Charity Donations Act to actively seek out donations except in case of a major disaster.
The report also said that given the Executive Yuan was censored for not effectively managing public donations made to the 921 Earthquake Relief Foundation, the Republic of China Centenary Foundation should have learned from that lesson.
NO WASTE
The legislature has called for appropriate celebrations of the centenary without wasting resources as the current financial situation does not allow for extravagance.
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