Sat, Nov 01, 2014 page3

• 2014 ELECTIONS: Interview: Pingtung needs transportation access: DPP candidate

  • By Hou Cheng-hsu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Pingtung County commissioner candidate Pan Men-an (潘孟安) says he is confident that with his extensive experience, having served as township councilor and risen through the ranks to his current position as legislator, he will be able to continue the DPP’s 17-year reign in the southern county.

  In an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Pan said that the central government has always considered Pingtung as an “agricultural county,” a classification that has denied the county more access to transportation infrastructure despite its location on the nation’s west coast.

  Only the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) crosses the county’s Linbian Township (林邊), Pan said, adding that while the then-DPP government had considered making Pingtung a part of the then-unconstructed Taiwan High Speed Rail and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp when it took power in 2000, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government had mothballed the idea after 2008.

  “The inconvenience of transportation in Pingtung greatly hampers the county’s development of its tourism and industrial sectors as well as business opportunities,” said Pan, who is also the head of the DPP’s Pingtung County branch.

  Pingtung covers more than 100km north to south, but it has no medical center, with the southernmost Hengchun Peninsula in great need of doctors, he said.

  The county’s residents, numbering about 850,000, duly pay their National Health Insurance fees every month, but they are still deprived of equal access to medical resources, Pan said.

  Pingtung receives very little in the way of central government funding and the issue has grown more pressing after the merger of several cities and counties into special municipalities, he said.

  While Hualien and Taitung counties, and other offshore counties, enjoy special privileges on construction clauses, Pingtung does not, he said.

  “The 21st century is a time of strong intercounty competition, and it is only fitting that Pingtung should strive to find its own unique character and build upon such an advantage,” Pan said.

  Only by finding an inimitable aspect can the county become financially stronger, he said.

  Cooperation among Pingtung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kao-hsiung would also benefit all parties involved, Pan added.

  Citing tourism as an example, he said that the three can use Kao-hsiung as a portal to attract tourists to visit historical sites in Tainan and the natural beauty of Pingtung.

  Such a cooperation would help form a solid southern Taiwan-based economy and ensure foreign visitors would not miss out, he added.

  The three regions can also jointly promote agricultural and aquaculture products to lower overhead costs and enhance their global competitiveness, he said.

  Despite the large pan-green support base in Pingtung, Pan said he is at a disadvantage when it comes to funding and because his main rival is from the ruling party in the central government.

  “I started from the very bottom of government and I know what the public needs,” Pan said, adding that the results of DPP governance in the area had been affirmed by voters repeatedly.

  “I’m certain the county residents would gladly entrust the county’s governance to me,” he said, vowing to carry on the DPP’s legacy.

  As someone in his early 50s, Pan said he was at the apex in terms of both experience in life and physical condition to contribute and serve in the place where he grew up.
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