The government should freeze electricity and fuel prices to prevent the costs of other goods from rising, as the nation fights a COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event for the donation of medical supplies in Taichung, Chiang said that when the outbreak was first detected in May, he and officials from the 14 cities and counties governed by the KMT discussed the issue by videoconference.
They agreed that the government should prioritize freezing the prices of electricity and fuel, he said, adding that those two costs affect the prices of other goods.
“Over the past month or so, fuel prices have risen eight times, but the government remains unconcerned,” he said. “Everyone is staying at home, but they are paying a very high price.”
Chiang said that on June 1 — when higher summer electricity rates take effect — he urged the government to suspend the implementation of the higher rates.
While he and other KMT members had asked the government to call off the price increase altogether this year, it only canceled the higher rates for last month, he said.
Summer electricity rates are applied in Taiwan annually from June to September.
Without a price freeze on electricity and fuel, so-called “relief orphans” would have an even tougher time, Chiang said, referring to a term used by critics to describe groups not covered by the government’s COVID-19 relief programs.
“We already have a bunch of ‘vaccine orphans’ and ‘relief orphans,’” Chiang said.
Freezing electricity and fuel prices are “the easiest to achieve,” he said, adding that the government would be disregarding the lives of people if it does not adopt the measure.
Once the prices of goods go up, they usually do not come back down, he said.
“If you [the government] cannot give universal cash handouts, you should at least freeze the prices of fuel and electricity,” he added.
The KMT has repeatedly called on the government to give NT$10,000 to all Taiwanese as a COVID-19 relief measure.
Separately, the KMT legislative caucus urged the Executive Yuan to establish a “price stabilization committee” in light of what the caucus said were “soaring prices.”
Domestic prices have “continued to soar” since the COVID-19 alert in Taipei and New Taipei City was on May 15 raised to level 3, it said in a statement.
The caucus also echoed Chiang’s calls for the government to scrap summer electricity fees, freeze fuel prices and provide a universal relief payment of NT$10,000.
The Democratic Progressive Party should “feel people’s pain” and ease their burden, KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said.
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