Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) said yesterday that he had paid for the NT$6.7 million (US$202,000) in losses from the consumer vouchers program with money from his and his friends' own pockets.
From Jan. 18 up to last Thursday, the government issued NT$3,600 consumer vouchers to Taiwanese nationals as well as their foreign spouses with household registrations in the nation.
After the distribution process was over, the ministry — which was in charge of running the distribution centers — found that there was a loss of more than NT$12.3 million.
“After deducting the NT$5,614,400 that is covered by insurance, there is a NT$6.7 million shortage — which I have taken cared of as promised,” Liao said in a statement yesterday.
In January, Liao promised during a press conference that he would cover any losses with money from his own pocket.
He said at the time that he would do so because he didn't want to hold staff at consumer voucher distribution locations responsible for any losses.
As soon as the final tally was confirmed, Liao fulfilled his promise.
“I get a monthly payment of NT$156,738, which adds up to NT$1,724,200 in total during the 11 months since I took office,” Liao said. “I used this amount to cover the losses from the national coffers.”
Liao's friends made donations to help cover the other NT$4.8 million, he said.
Liao said that he had already given the money to the Council for Economic Planning and Development, which was in charge of issuing the consumer vouchers.
Although many people have praised Liao for his actions, some lawmakers disagreed with Liao's handling of the issue.
“It doesn't make sense that staff at distribution centers can shirk their responsibilities,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said. “They're not volunteers, they're paid workers. Of course they should be held responsible for any mistakes.”
On the other hand, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said that the issue should be dealt with according to the law.
“Distributing consumer vouchers is official business, it's not Liao's personal business, so it's not right that he has covered the loss out of his own pocket,” Lo said. “We have laws and regulations regarding problems like this. It should be handled according to the law.”
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
RSS