15,000 police to guard vouchers to be issued

Everybody is expected to receive NT$3,600 in nine vouchers as a Chinese New Year gift from President Ma Ying-jeou’s government.

Wang, director-general of the National Police Agency, told a Legislative Yuan committee meeting there were 1,4401 polling stations for the last presidential election.

“As the vouchers will have to be issued at similar places — 1,4401 or more — we will have to mobilize that many officers to provide the necessary security,” Wang said.

The administration decided to follow the example of this year’s presidential election to hand out consumers’ vouchers, which can be used almost exactly like cash to stimulate the anemic economy.

All vouchers will have to be sent first to post offices across the country. “Security is needed while vouchers are being transported,” Wang said.

The vouchers will then be relayed to the “polling stations” yet to be designated. They have to reach there before Sunday, January 18, or exactly a week before the Chinese New Year Festival holiday starts.

Chinese News Year’s Day, that of the Year of the Ox, falls on January 26 next year.

Of course, all the police officers should stay on guard at places where vouchers are handed out.

To get the vouchers given away on schedule, the Legislative Yuan has to adopt the government-sponsored bill for the yearend bonus for all by December 26 at the latest, its speaker Wang Jin-pyng said.

“Otherwise,” Wang said, “there won’t be enough time to get everything ready for the issuance of consumers’ vouchers according to schedule.”

On the other hand, welfare organizations are clamoring for their shares of consumer vouchers.

Under the government bill, recipients are forbidden to use vouchers to donate for charity.

Two Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers backed charity organizations demanding they be allowed to receive vouchers just like cash.

Huang Shu-ying and Chen Chieh-ju held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan, where welfare organizations leaders protested against discrimination.

Lin Lu-hung, director of the Taiwan Women’s Link, said the bill has to be amended so that people can send their consumers’ vouchers to organizations like hers.

Wang Yu-ling, secretary-general of the League of Welfare Organizations for the Disabled, asked why donations for charity cannot be considered “consumption” to stimulate the economy.

“Isn’t it exactly the same as a business transaction?” she questioned. “President Ma should use his brain,” she said.

In reply, Ma’s spokesman Wang Yu-chi said the president will lead the people in using consumers’ vouchers himself. “But,” he added, “the President will make his donation for charity with cash.”

“That cash donation will be ten times as much as President Ma’s share of consumers’ vouchers,” the spokesman said. That means Ma would donate at least NT$360,000.

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