The Greater Tainan Political Overseer Alliance yesterday demanded that Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) apologize for “smearing” the city council with allegations of corruption, adding fuel to a spat between City Hall and the council.
Accompanying members of the alliance, councilors told a press conference that Lai was making an issue of funds earmarked for each constituency’s construction budget under “the guise of reform.”
The conflict between City Hall and the council has forced three extra sessions to resolve the impasse, so far to little result.
Photo: CNA
Commenting yesterday, Lai said now was the time for action and to work for the interests of residents of Greater Tainan.
The merger of Tainan City and Tainan County into a single municipality on Dec. 25 led councilors to suggest an increase of each councilor’s construction fund per constituency.
Lai questioned the legality of the proposed increase.
Greater Tainan Councilor Hung Yu-feng (洪玉鳳) said that if Lai meant to imply that councilors had misappropriate the funds, he should invite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials who had used these funds to explain whether they had “filched” the money.
“If the legality of the earmarked constituency fund is ‘questionable,’ then former Tainan County commissioners Mark Chen (陳唐山) and Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and even Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) should be taken in by district prosecutors,” Hung said.
Greater Tainan Councilor Lee Tsung-fu (李宗富) said councilors had the right to make suggestions and that the earmarked funds were only to safeguard against potential refusals by City Hall in case of a funding shortage.
“City Hall takes care of who bids for construction, oversees it and signs the acceptance letter,” Lee said.
Greater Tainan Councilor Lee Wen-chun (李文俊) said that if Lai refused to apologize, the council would boycott extra sessions.
Greater Tainan already has a deficit of about NT$100 billion (US$3.4 billion), and its proposed budget for fiscal 2011 would only raise it further by NT$3.8 billion, Lee said.
“Balance the budget, then send it over for review,” Lee said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS