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KAOHSIUNG DISASTER: Kaohsiung rebuts claims about its funding request
By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
Workers yesterday place culverts along a road destroyed by the gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung last week to enable water runoff and to avoid flooding after the sewage system was destroyed by the blasts.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The Greater Kaohsiung Government yesterday urged the central government not to mislead the public by implying that the city had asked for NT$1.9 billion (US$63.2 million) in aid with nothing to back up its request but “one official document.”
The city government also rebutted Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan’s (李四川) claims at a Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) meeting on Wednesday that Kaohsiung still has NT$1.7 billion in disaster relief funds, saying that it only has about NT$500 million left.
The Executive Yuan reportedly received an official letter from the city government requesting aid on Tuesday night.
According to a Central News Agency (CNA) report, an unnamed official from the Executive Yuan on Wednesday complained that it was “disconcerting” to have the city government ask for NT$1.9 billion in aid with merely “one official document.”
The unnamed official said that when applying for funding from the central government, local governments should present official documents detailing restoration plans, including the cause of the disaster, location of places affected by the disaster and rebuilding plans with maps and photographs attached.
For example, the budget estimates should include the size or measurement of the damaged culvert that needs to be repaired should be clearly specified as well as how many cubic meters are in need of backfilling for ruptured roads, the official said.
Moreover, when a large amount of documents are presented, they need to be bound, the CNA report cited the official as saying.
KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) seconded the call for more paperwork, saying: “Funding requires a plan, which in turns requires substance. You do not just send a piece of official paper requesting money.”
The comments drew the ire of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Chih-chang (蔡其昌).
“You might as well look for typos in the document, or see whether the handwriting was good or how well they chose their words,” Tsai said.
Meanwhile, the city government said it had attached a chart detailing the estimated amount for various items.
“It is absolutely baseless to accuse us of demanding NT$1.9 billion with just one piece of paper,” the city government said.
Greater Kaohsiung’s Information Bureau Director-General Ting Yun-kong (丁允恭) said the document was brief as it was urgent to inform the central authority of the city’s needs.
“We will provide whatever documents are demanded in the future, as long as the suffering of Kaohsiung’s residents is taken seriously,” he said.
The city also released a statement refuting what Lee’s claim.
Of the NT$1.942 billion that Lee said the city has earmarked for disaster relief this year, “NT$682 million is designated for disaster prevention, and work on this has been ongoing since the beginning of the year. In addition, NT$737 million of the remaining NT1.26 billion has been either used for the damage caused by typhoons and heavy rains so far this year or distributed to local districts for potential emergencies as the flood season has not ended,” the city government said.
City officials urged Lee not to lead the nation astray by putting the interests of the KMT before that of the state, or “determine [Kaohsiung’s] balance of the reserve fund using [outdated] budget information from the beginning of the year.”
source: Taipei Times
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