In spite of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) perceived readiness for the elections in the nation’s western coast, DPP candidate Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) has described the Yunlin County commissioner’s race as undoubtedly the most heatedly contested of all the Nov. 29 polls.
In a recent interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Lee said the intensity of the contest was primarily due to the Yunlin seat being critical to preserving the influence wielded in the county by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) faction headed by former Yunlin commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味).
Lee’s KMT rival in the race is Chang Li-shan (張麗善), the sister of Chang Jung-wei.
Lee is pushing a “Brighter Yunlin” with a “clean [county] government” as the baseline policies of his campaign, with billboards hung across the county proclaiming slogans such as: “No ‘black gold’” — a reference to a graft case involving Chang Jung-wei, who was forced to step down as commissioner after he was indicted for corruption in 2005.
The “Brighter Yunlin” policy is aimed at having the county government develop ecologically friendly resources and “green” industry that can coexist harmoniously with the environment, Lee said.
In terms of government staff, Lee said he would create a clean administration, which would make the interests of the public, agriculture industry and environment of Yunlin equal and help all parties stand together to strengthen the county.
Turning to agriculture, Lee said it is Yunlin’s principal industry, earning the county NT$60 billion (US$1.9 billion) in revenue last year.
Lee said he planned to uphold the policy of making Yunlin the nation’s “agriculture capital,” as implemented by Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) of the DPP, adding that he hopes to make Yunlin Taiwan’s most important agricultural production base.
On county finances, Lee said he hoped the central government would speedily pass the amendment on laws allowing local governments to incur more debt, adding that he hoped pending amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) would also be passed to make distribution of resources more logical.
However, Lee said that these issues were extremely convoluted, necessitating debate over decades and were ultimately not in the hands of local governments.
Yet he maintained that regardless of how financial distributions issues are resolved, Yunlin still has resources available.
On education, Lee proposed making school textbooks free and providing free milk to elementary school students to help them have a balanced diet.
That policy proposal clashes with Chang Li-shan’s policy initiative, which would make elementary school lunches free.
According to Lee, his education and health plans would cost just NT$10 million annually, adding that if the county government’s finances are well husbanded, that would be an affordable amount.
Lee said that by contrast, Chang Li-shan’s policy of free lunches would cost more than NT$20 million a year and would be classified as a social welfare policy, which regulations stipulate would require identifying the more financially capable families to ensure they do not receive the same benefits.
“The county government should not waste its money, and its limited resources must be used with greater efficiency and placed where needed,” Lee said.
He added that under his governance, the county government would not request the controversial subsidy funds from Formosa Plastic Group’s naphtha cracker on an individual basis.
Local governments should not have to rely on the kindness of businesses, Lee said, adding that the central government should mandate corporate subsidies for the local population, as only then would local governments have more say in the matter, making corporate subsidy programs more fair and logical.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS