A reward system to encourage officials involved in the Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Project is to be implemented, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The NT$880 billion (US$28.76 billion) project focuses on “renewable” energy, natural resources, railways, digital infrastructure and urban and rural development.
Mosquito halls
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during his second term introduced a four-year, NT$500 billion “i-Taiwan 12 infrastructure package” aimed at increasing public construction.
However, idle public facilities — colloquially known as “mosquito halls” because the empty buildings often turned into breeding grounds for mosquitoes — have been criticized as a waste of space and resources.
The National Development Council (NDC) is to develop a mechanism to reward or punish officials according to their performance in implementing the project, which is intended to demonstrate the government’s resolve to stimulate economic growth, the Executive Yuan said.
A report outlining 366 project items sent from the Executive Yuan to the Legislative Yuan cited the most recent Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum which said that Taiwan’s international competitiveness is held back by inadequate infrastructure.
The report ranked Taiwan No. 13 for competitive strength of its infrastructure, while South Korea came in at No. 10, Singapore at No. 2 and Hong Kong at No. 1.
Concerned about the nation’s last-place ranking among the region’s larger economies, Executive Yuan officials said that they hoped addressing infrastructure concerns would stimulate economic growth.
The yuan said it is aiming to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs for the next 30 years by choosing forward-looking construction plans, prioritizing those that take a balanced approach to local development, aid cross-county or cross-municipality administration or spur growth in economically slow areas.
Plans specifically addressing “renewable” energy development, natural resource protection, safe and efficient railway systems, digital infrastructure development and balanced urban-rural development are to be the focus of the project over the next eight years, the yuan said.
When asked why responsibility for project implementation was not laid out in the draft bill for the project’s special regulations, the yuan said that a standard devised at the government’s discretion would be more flexible and effective in boosting morale among departments.
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