Lu Xiuyan: The subsidy for the Central MRT Blue Line has been reduced by nearly half. We hope it will be received in time to avoid delays.

The Transportation Bureau's MRT budget subsidy for the Taichung City Government's MRT Blue Line next year is only NT$4.5 billion, which is more than NT$4.6 billion less than the NT$9.1 billion originally agreed. Regarding this, Mayor Lu Xiuyan said in an interview today that the central government's budget for the MRT Blue Line next year is less than half of the original agreement, but she is not too worried that the central government will not provide money. She believes that the subsidy will be in place. She is just worried that it will be slow and will continue to fight for it.

The Ministry of Transportation's 2016 budget for the "Mass Rapid Transit System Construction Plan" provides eight subsidies totaling 20,182,563,000 yuan to the Shuangbei region, five subsidies to Kaohsiung City, approximately 14,549.2 million yuan, and only 4.5 billion yuan to Taichung City's MRT Blue Line construction plan.

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Mayor Lu Xiuyan was interviewed today when participating in the MRT Blue Line train voting event. She saw that the subsidy given to Taichung City by the central government for next year's MRT budget is less than half of the original agreement, about 4.5 or 4.6 billion less. She hopes that both the central and local governments can act in accordance with the original approval. The central government and the local government have long been stipulated in the proportion of sharing.

Lu Xiuyan said that Taichung City’s burden of MRT funds is one of the highest among counties and cities in the country. Taichung City has to bear 56%, and the central government has to bear 44%. Taichung City’s willingness to bear more than half of 56% shows its determination to build it.

Lu Xiuyan pointed out that basically she is not too worried about the central government not giving money, because this is recorded in official documents, but she is worried about the delay, because the subsidy budget was originally approved according to this approval. She hopes that the central government can show its execution ability and ensure that the funds can be received smoothly, so that the funds of every county and city in Taichung can be smoothly carried out according to the original approval method.

Lu Xiuyan said that she felt that the central government's subsidies would be in place, but she just hoped that the central government would not be slow, so that the construction progress of the MRT Blue Line could be on schedule and of high quality. Instead of waiting 7 or 8 years, it could even be opened to traffic earlier. Such a large area in the central region needs MRT, but this is not only the most important policy goal in the central region, but also one of the most important goals for national development.