|
EDITORIAL: Saying one
thing, doing another
At a time when the world is concerned about global warming, when the government
is pushing energy conservation and reduced carbon emissions, media reports
showed that Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Philip Yang (·¨¥Ã©ú)
racked up an electricity bill of more than NT$20,000 at his 130m2 residence for
July/August. This is many times more than an average family would use. It seems
that the man in charge of announcing the government¡¦s policy on the environment
is setting a rather bad example.
In his defense, Yang said he had a young child at home and needed to have the
air conditioning on all day. He then criticized the press for writing that he
was ¡§harming Taiwan¡¨ by wasting electricity. The GIO followed this by bringing
out records of previous agency heads, pointing out that GIO chiefs when the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power also had high electricity bills.
The press dug deeper. Some media reports said that the July/August bill the year
before last for the residence of Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (³¯µâ) was as
much as NT$120,000. And if you think that was high, how about the bills run up
by former premier Liu Chao-shiuan¡¦s (¼B¥ü¥È) residence, which topped NT$300,000. Of
course, one must remember that these bills included electricity used by their
respective retinues.
These astronomical bills have roused the ire of the public. It takes some gall
to bang on in public about the importance of conserving energy only to waste it
in private. Worse still, these officials are not even paying for it: The
taxpayer is.
That¡¦s not to say that the individuals singled out here are the worst offenders.
By the same token, just because someone has not been named does not mean they
are not just as wasteful; it simply means that their records have not been made
public. However, putting aside the actual figures for a minute and how they
compare with the average bill of NT$3,000 paid by ordinary households, the most
striking thing about this is how widespread the phenomenon seems to be.
Even though the story of the astronomical bills has just broken and senior
officials have been found to be saying one thing and doing another, some good
has already come of it. The universal public condemnation has obliged Yang to
apologize and to look into the cause of these excessive bills. Apparently it was
because of old equipment in the building, something which has now been
addressed.
Yang missed an opportunity here. He should have apologized to the public and
investigated the problem instead of dragging others into the fray. It would have
been perfect if he had used his own experience to promote policy. He could have
reminded the public of the importance of checking their electrical equipment and
not being lured into the false economy of not buying the latest model. Old
equipment laps up electricity at an astonishing rate, which makes it important
to upgrade. He could have turned the situation around for himself quite easily
and better promoted energy conservation.
These electricity bills have also caught the attention of the Control Yuan,
which has decided to launch a comprehensive review. Senior officials with
energy-inefficient households and officials or public institutions who fritter
away taxpayers¡¦ money may well find themselves on the wrong side of the Control
Yuan¡¦s attention.
However, it would be even better if the government set a standard for amenities
usage levels, and required any officials or institutions that exceed these
standards to foot the bill themselves. Why should the taxpayer have to bear the
brunt of official excesses and abuses?
|
