ANALYSIS: Will climate change derail Taiwan's infrastructure plans?
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Sudden downpours that destroyed roads and flooded city streets have put the government's infrastructure spending plan back on the front line of political debate.
▲圖／翻攝自中國郵報
The Cabinet's Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program proposes more than NT$880 billion in spending on projects ranging from light rail networks to green infrastructure.
Following the massive flooding last week generated by unpredictable rainfall, the government appears to be shifting its posture.
Premier Lin Chuan came under fire during damage inspection tours last week. Local borough chiefs and residents accused the government of not allocating enough funding for flood control and said other infrastructure projects had been lagging behind for years.
Minister without Portfolio Wu Hung-mou said that only 53 percent of river diversion projects across Taiwan had been completed — and that the remaining ones hadn't even been started.
On Sunday, the United Daily News quoted the premier as saying that the infrastructure bill needed "re-evaluation."
The Cabinet said Lin meant only specific parts of the bill — those pertaining to climate change-related flood prevention — needed re-evaluation, rather than the entire bill.
However, the government is finding itself faced with increased concern across party lines that money isn't being prioritized for where it's needed most.
Currently, about half of the bill's money is destined for constructing railways and other mass transit networks, including light rail systems.
Before the storms last week, each local government was clamoring for funding for their railroad and light rail projects. But now their priority has shifted to flood control, with the central government trying its best to align itself with the changing climate.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-che recommended that the government more than double the bill's current spending on flood control from NT$72 billion to NT$150 billion.
It would be welcome by local governments such as that of Yunlin County, where 33 flood-prevention projects are in jeopardy due to a NT$36 billion funding shortfall.
Kaohsiung says it has 180 flood-control projects relying on NT$17 billion to be allocated by the infrastructure bill.
During an inspection tour that included Yunlin and Chiayi counties, President Tsai Ing-wen said that flood prevention infrastructure needed to be accelerated and that the infrastructure bill funds could be used to help resource- and cash-strapped local governments undertake such projects themselves.
It remains to be seen, however, whether climate change will cause more than a verbal change to the government's infrastructure spending priorities.
For now, the administration seems intent merely on using the threats posed by climate change to consolidate what remaining support is left for the plan.
"The water resource allocation of the plan is for confronting the environmental impact brought on by climate change," Lin said while visiting Kaohsiung's Taoyuan District. "The allocations are made every two years and are open to re-evaluation."
5 顆 
10 顆 
15 顆 
20 顆