The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday criticized the Triple Stimulus Vouchers and highlighted several flaws in their design, including a lack of anti-counterfeiting features, which has reportedly discouraged some stores from accepting them.
People have had to wait in lines at convenience stores and post offices to purchase vouchers or claim those that they have ordered, and postal workers have had to work overtime, KMT caucus secretary-general Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told a news conference in Taipei.
Street vendors who have not been unionized cannot cash in on the vouchers, while others have to worry about receiving counterfeit vouchers due to a lack of anti-counterfeiting features, he said.
Photo: CNA
Most people on online forums have said that they would use the vouchers to buy daily necessities, greatly reducing the economic stimulus effect the government expects the vouchers to have, he said, calling on Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to immediately fix the problems.
Since the day they went on sale, the vouchers have caused people “triple inconvenience” and “triple frustration,” as evidenced by long lines at post offices and the overtime being paid to postal workers, which has reportedly topped NT$100 million (US$3.39 million), KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
Despite the Executive Yuan having given people the option of digital or paper-based vouchers, only 15 percent of people who have claimed the vouchers so far have opted for the paper-less version, he said.
Street vendors and food stand owners have to ask their market management committees to cash the vouchers for them, but not every market has such a committee, he said.
Some vendors have refused to take the vouchers to spare themselves the hassle they would have to go through to cash them, he said.
The Executive Yuan, which is today set to unveil a second special budget request for COVID-19 prevention relief and recovery, should allow local governments to manage the budget so that they can come up with their own ways to revitalize the economy, he said.
The Ministry of Culture, the Sports Administration and the Council of Agricultural have all introduced digital vouchers, which require people interested in them to enter a raffle draw by downloading apps, he said, adding that the draws are a way to divert the public’s attention from the poor functionality of the Triple Stimulus Vouchers.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit