Last night (March 2) at the Executive Yuan, Vice Premier Chang San-cheng and a Taipei City Government (TCG) delegation discussed the utilization plan for the former Air Force Command Headquarters in Taipei, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Li-chyun stated today.
The site belongs to the central government, and Premier Mao Chi-kuo has directed that it be regenerated as a future innovation and startup base for young people in order to uphold the principle of "energizing historic sites and keeping the whole area intact," Sun pointed out.
Mao has said that the decision of how to use the land in the mid- to long-term should be left in the hands of the next generation. The city government is happy with the principle of preserving the whole area, Sun remarked.
In a meeting earlier today, Vice Premier Chang said that plans for the utilization of the former headquarters will be solicited from the public by the end of this month, the spokesperson added. Since this land belongs to the whole citizenry, every county and city government (including the TCG) is welcome to submit proposals to the Executive Yuan, which will then formulate an integrated plan.
The vice premier and the TCG delegation also discussed issues concerning urban renewal on lands owned by the central government and sharing the costs for the Xinzhuang and Luzhou mass rapid transit (MRT) lines.
The TCG has proposed reutilizing national lands such as the army maintenance works in the Xinyi district and has come up with the idea of acquiring land from the central government through exchange or purchase. This issue has been discussed before, and the TCG hopes for further dialogue with the central government. Chang responded that he will ask related agencies to retrieve relevant documents to get an understanding of past discussions and then decide the next step to take.
Regarding cost sharing for the two MRT lines, Sun pointed out that originally the Executive Yuan, TCG and Taiwan Provincial Government were to jointly shoulder the construction costs of the lines; however, because of the provincial government's downsizing, the TCG has already paid for a portion of the expenses that had been assigned to the provincial government. As legal proceedings of this issue have been ongoing, the Executive Yuan will task the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to delve into the matter while honoring the judicial process.
The TCG delegation was led by Mayor Ko Wen-je and included deputy mayors Teng Chia-ji and Lin Chin-rong as well as municipal staff.