Sixty percent of the budget proposed by the National Science Council (NSC) for the ROCSAT-3 (
The National Science Council had asked for about NT$260 million in funding for the ROCSAT-3 project next year.
But legislators of the Sci-tech and Information Committee slashed NT$160 million off that request, or about 60 percent of the proposal.
NSC Vice Chairman Hsieh Ching-chih (
"We estimate that the completion date will be extended for six months to one year," Hsieh said.
The ROCSAT-3 program is a collaboration between University Corporation for Atmospheric Research of the US and the the National Space Program Office under the NSC to develop a constellation of eight low-earth orbiting satellites for weather prediction, space weather monitoring and climate research.
The launch date of the satellites was previously scheduled for late 2002.
"Some of us want to cut a great part of the budget because the achieved percentage of scheduled progress of the project has fallen behind seriously," KMT legislator Ting Shou-chung (
Ting said that about NT$200 million in budget funds arranged for the project last year had not yet been consumed.
KMT legislator Chen Ching-pao (
"In addition, I suggest taking out 30 percent of total budget arranged by the central government because Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Chen said that NT$510 billion was about 30 percent of the total budget of the former KMT-led central government.
"If so, the total budget proposed by DPP-led central government should be about 70 percent of the budget arranged by the former KMT-led government. How come the total budget proposed by central government is NT$90 billion more than that proposed by the former government?" Chen said.
Other KMT legislators at the committee, however, did not side with Chen.
"Legislators should consider a diversity of goals to see if spending the money on such items is cost-effective," KMT legislator Ting told the media.
At the budget review meeting yesterday afternoon, legislators cut NT$0.5 billion out of the NT$14 billion budget for the national scientific technology development fund.
In addition, NT$1.9 billion in funds proposed for developing industrial-based parks will be reviewed by legislators at their floor meeting, planned to be held by the end of December.
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