More than a dozen groups protested in front of the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan yesterday against the Cabinet’s proposed NT$60 billion (US$2 billion) six-year special budget for flood control and prevention, saying that it is nothing but a scheme to win votes.
“We are against the government spending our money as it pleases,” and “The government is good at securing votes, but bad at flood control,” representatives from the groups and dozens of Changhua County residents chanted at the protests, as they urged the Cabinet to review the results of previous flood-control projects before allocating more money.
“We are worried that the NT$60 billion six-year special budget will be a drain on the government’s budget,” Taiwan Alliance for the Protection of Water Resources spokeswoman Chen Chiao-hua (陳椒華) said.
Photo: CNA
The six-year proposal was submitted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs last week. The Cabinet’s current NT$116 billion eight-year Flood-prone Areas Management Plan finishes at the end of the year.
Chen said her group is also concerned that the proposed budget and the announcement of national land plans would make it easier to change land-use designations and to win approval for development projects, and may result in expanded development projects near reservoir catchment areas.
“The special budget does not need to be passed right away. We urge the legislators not to rush to pass it, but to hold public hearings to hear differing opinions,” she said.
Taiwan Tree Protection Alliance convener Chang Mei-hui (張美惠) said that extreme weather has caused about 80 percent of the annual rainfall to precipitate only during rainy seasons, causing floods in rainy seasons and droughts at other times, so they are not against flood-control policies.
However, she said her group disapproves of the funding for local farm irrigation associations, which do not have the expertise to deal with floods.
Wu Li-hui (吳麗慧) of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union’s Changhua Office said that land subsidence is a very serious problem in Changhua, and the National Science Council has allocated billions to the Changhua Farm Irrigation Association to resolve the problem.
“We are against passing this huge budget and giving it to agencies that have no flood control expertise at a time when the government is in financial difficulties,” she said.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS