The Executive Yuan’s proposed budget for the so-called “development of aquatic environments” project of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program is “clearly insufficient” and would likely hamper efforts to prevent floods, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday.
The Cabinet introduced the aquatic environments program to facilitate the nation’s water distribution and improve drainage systems in flood-prone areas, and has planned a NT$250.7 billion (US$8.33 billion) budget out of the NT$890 billion earmarked for the infrastructure project.
KMT Legislator-at-large William Tseng (曾銘宗) said two of the three project objectives outlined by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration — ensuring steady water supplies and preventing flooding — would cost more than NT$220 billion, but the administration has not yet laid out any plans to assess the viability of the objectives.
Photo: CNA
He panned the administration for designating 43 areas as “highlights” for the program without informing the public how it intends to attain its goals, calling the move “dangerous.”
Flood prevention and stable water distribution affect people’s livelihoods and the Tsai administration should address the issues with prudence rather than advertising them as “highlights” of its governance, Tseng said.
Another plan to build waterfront parks, which would cost about NT$28 billion, is “not directly related to people’s safety” and should therefore be put on hold so the money could be used for water supply stabilization and flood prevention, he said.
The planned budget allocated for flood prevention is clearly insufficient, KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said, adding that the proposed projects do not address local governments’ flood prevention needs.
The Water Resources Agency plans to solve flooding in a 200km2 area, which is not enough, Chen said, citing Taoyuan’s Jhongli (中壢) and Gueishan (龜山) industrial zones as examples, which he said have long been neglected by the central government and have been excluded from the forward-looking project.
“Do not expect a quick solution to problems when formulating a plan,” KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said.
“The Tsai administration has neglected issues of illegal lumbering and building development in catchment areas, and instead proposes to spend large sums on dredging reservoirs,” Wang said.
“But how do we rid reservoirs of sediment without first stepping up efforts to protect river heads? How would water shortages be solved?” Wang added.
Instead of spending money on building waterfront parks, the government should address leakages during the water distribution process, as about 10 reservoirs worth of water is lost through leaking pipes every year, she said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS