Is the government’s money being well spent? One can’t help but ask the question given the recent string of reports on just how free-handed the government has been with taxpayers’ money.
On Tuesday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said that the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had asked for a marketing and promotions budget of NT$178 million (US$5.5 million) for next year. That figure is a five-fold increase from last year’s NT$32 million.
Reports also emerged yesterday that Taoyuan International Airport Co — the company that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is launching on Nov. 1 to take over management and operation of the airport — plans to spend NT$323.4 million renovating the airport’s bathrooms from next year through 2013.
Then there was the announcement from the Ministry of the Interior yesterday that the individual who came up with the slogan “Children are our most precious treasures” for its birth promotion slogan competition would receive a cash award of NT$1 million.
The list of financial largesse wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the whopping — and overpriced, as Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) has admitted — sum the city government has spent on flowers and other items for the Xinsheng Overpass’ beautification project and the Taipei International Flora Exposition.
Against the backdrop of mounting national debt — with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration racking up a deficit of NT$1.42 trillion — the way the government spends taxpayers’ money has left many wondering whether it knows how to prioritize public needs.
For instance, rather than spending the bulk of its funds on advertising and promoting the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), wouldn’t it be better spent holding a referendum and letting the public have its say? Ma has brushed off the need to hold an ECFA plebiscite, saying it would be too costly. But wouldn’t a budget of NT$178 million devoted solely to publicity be just as pricey — if not for Ma, at least to many members of the public?
As for renovating the airport’s bathrooms, with a total of 90 toilets in the two terminals, does the government need to spend NT$3.6 million per toilet to improve the situation? As Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) rightfully said, the point is not how much money is being spent, but whether the management has the heart and the will to keep the facilities and services on par.
As for the slogan competition, would “Children are our most precious treasures” encourage more people to have babies? It’s unlikely. Although NT$1 million might not seem like much in the eyes of the government, to the ordinary person it is money that could have been better spent elsewhere.
The number of elementary and junior high school students unable to afford school lunches surged to 226,000 last year. Imagine how many youngsters could have their stomachs filled if the government knew how to better appropriate funds to care for them. Or how about using some of the money to fund schools struggling to send their players to compete abroad?
When a government fails in setting its priorities, it’s the public who suffers.
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