A draft bill for an around-the-nation high speed rail system (環島高速鐵路建設特別條例) would cause confusion among administrative agencies and should not be enacted, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The bill was proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) and is to be jointly reviewed today by the Economics and Transportation committees.
Fu also proposed a bill on the construction of an extension of the Shuishalian Freeway (Freeway No. 6), further east to Hualien.
Photo: Wu Hsin-tien, Taipei Times
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) co-sponsored bills on the around-the-island high-speed rail system and the extension of Freeway No. 6. The bill also proposed that the council would be in charge of enforcing the draft statute.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications oversees the operations of the high-speed rail system, including constructions of extension lines to Yilan and Pingtung counties, the council said.
If the NDC enforces the draft statute, its authority would clash with the Railway Bureau’s, which is the regulatory agency for the high-speed railway system, as per the Railway Act (鐵路法), the council said, adding that it would result in multiple agencies engaging in oversight of the high-speed rail system.
“The draft bill would lead to chaos in terms of long-term development transportation projects and affect efficiency and distribution of administrative resources,” it said.
Public construction projects approved by the Executive Yuan should be funded by the government budget in accordance with procedures for the implementation of the preliminary work of the government’s public construction, the council said.
Aside from preparing for the required budget, government agencies should maintain financial soundness through revenue and expenditure control, it added.
The council said the bill is incompatible with the Railway Act, the Financial Discipline Act (財政紀律法) and the Organic Act of the National Development Council (國發會組織法).
Taiwan already has experience in building a high-speed railway system, so it is not appropriate to enact a new law for it or assign the NDC to serve as the administrative authority for the high-speed railway around the island, it said.
The two bills, which would require a budget of up to NT$1 trillion, were serious infringements to administrative power, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
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