Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday called her opponents’ proposals to lower rent for public housing “shortsighted.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Sunday announced his public housing policies, which include establishing 57,000 public housing units, reducing rent by 10 percent and offering a NT$1,500 monthly rent subsidy.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who is the KMT’s mayoral candidate, last week said that married couples who have at least two children should receive priority consideration for public housing and be offered a 20 percent discount.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Huang, who resigned as Taipei deputy mayor on Saturday and announced her candidacy the following day, on Monday said that public housing should be operated sustainably.
While “giving out money or reducing rent is the easiest” method, it would bankrupt public housing, she said.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), head of the policy research task force in Chen’s campaign, on Monday evening on Facebook denied Huang’s claim, and called on her to explain her calculations or apologize.
Kuan questioned Huang’s contributions to housing justice in the city, writing that Taipei’s public housing policies deteriorated during the three years Huang was deputy mayor, including the suspension of public housing construction projects over the past two years.
Huang yesterday said that her opponents are not considering the costs of their proposals to reduce rent for public housing, which she called “shortsighted.”
She said that if they only focus on drumming up support and votes, while neglecting the long-term management and maintenance cost of public housing, then continuous spending would drain the budgets of other development or social programs.
The sustainable management of public housing needs fiscal planning, Huang said, adding that the housing fund should be self-liquidating, so rent subsidies should only be offered to underprivileged residents.
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,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS