The Penghu Public Works Section is about to enter history, ending the highway bureau’s agency road maintenance business in counties and cities

The maintenance project of the Penghu Cross-sea Bridge will be taken over by the Penghu County Government starting next year.

The Penghu Public Works Section of the Southern District Maintenance Engineering Branch of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport has been in Penghu for nearly a decade and will be officially abolished and passed into history at the end of this year. After the last county road No. 203 (including the cross-sea bridge) was handed over to the Public Works Department of the Penghu County Government, it will retire from the Penghu stage forever. This is also the end of road maintenance in the last county and city in the country managed by the Highway Bureau.

The Penghu Public Works Section, affiliated to the Southern District Maintenance Engineering Branch of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, was formerly known as the "6th Public Works Section" in 1978 and was renamed "Penghu Public Works Section" in 1997. It has become the only public works section of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport on outlying islands, and is responsible for the maintenance, engineering design and construction of 5 county roads in Penghu County, including the 2,494-meter-long cross-sea bridge. The background of the original establishment was the Taiwan Provincial Government's policy of caring for the residents of outlying islands.

Following the abolition of the Taiwan Provincial Government and the resolution of the Legislative Yuan, it was stipulated that the maintenance business of county and township roads across the country, which was represented by the Highway Bureau, must be returned to each county and municipal government for their own maintenance. So starting in 2017, the Penghu Public Works Section initiated lengthy business transfer negotiations with the Penghu County Government. According to the handover plan, County Road 205 will be handed back in 2019, and County Roads 201, 202, and 204 will be returned to the Penghu County Government in batches. Until October 31 this year, considering the completion of the relevant maintenance contract, the last one, County Road 203 including the cross-sea bridge, was officially completed.

Why five county roads were returned one by one over multiple years was mainly due to the consideration that Penghu employees in the Penghu Public Works Section would have to leave their homes and go to work in the Kaohsiung Public Works Section after the company was abolished. Therefore, the abolition was not officially announced until all Penghu employees retired. This is a compassionate approach by the public sector to employees. As for the Penghu County Government Public Works Department, after taking over the project, 2-3 posts will be added.

The last No. 203 County Road in the Penghu Public Works Section, including the maintenance of the cross-sea bridge, was returned to the Penghu County Government and passed into history.

The Penghu Public Works Section officially entered history at the end of the year, and the repair of cracks in the cross-sea bridge returned to the Penghu County Government.