National Police Agency (NPA) assistance in Kaohsiung, local government heads' hosting public security meetings, fraud prevention, summer vacation policing, river dredging and illegal remittances were among the topics discussed today at the Executive Yuan's seventh meeting this year on public security, which was chaired by Premier Jiang Yi-huah.
The premier instructed the NPA to assist the local police with maintaining law and order and directing traffic in the areas of Kaohsiung hard hit by severe gas explosions on July 31, noting that when President Ma Ying-jeou inspected the disaster areas, he instructed administrative agencies to give their full support and expediently carry out various recovery and rehabilitation tasks.
After being briefed by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on the current public security situation and analysis, the premier pointed out that in the first half of this year, the nation's special municipality mayors and city and county commissioners all personally hosted public security meetings demonstrating the importance they place on law and order. The premier commended these leaders for their vigilance and expressed hope they will keep up the good work to demonstrate their administrations' determination to safeguard public order.
In the first half of this year (January-June), violent crimes, theft and other criminal activities decreased while the clearance rate increased, the premier said. However, the number of fraud cases spiked by 60.84 percent compared with the same period last year.
Strategies to prevent telecommunication and Internet frauds have already been discussed during several previous public security meetings. According to an NPA report and analysis, since June 24 frauds based on small payments by mobile phones and through the social network Line have decreased week by week. The premier instructed the MOI, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), National Communications Commission and other related agencies to keep up the good work and admonished them to remain steadfast and persist in various investigation and prevention measures, especially bolstering public awareness, to effectively curb such frauds.
It is now summer vacation, and preliminary statistical analysis has indicated that cases of juvenile delinquency, including drug usage, transactional sex and reckless driving, have again become more prevalent during this period. He therefore enjoined the MOI, Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and other related agencies to step up their prevention efforts in order to protect students.
Following the MOEA's report on its employment of an all-weather river-dredging monitoring system and its prevention of illegal dredging to purloin river sand and gravel, the premier commended the ministry for its dredging management reforms as well as its successful collaboration with police and prosecutors to prevent illegal dredging.
Jiang also commended the MOEA for creating safe and high-quality river environments through these reforms, noting that annual legal dredging has risen from 21 million cubic meters in 2009 to an average of 70 million cubic meters now.
He also noted that the proportion of river sand in composite river sand and gravel supply increased from 39 percent in 2008 to 64 percent in 2013. The stability of river sand and gravel supply has facilitated the implementation of major construction projects, and since the bidding system for these commodities is becoming sounder, price volatility has stayed within 3 percent in recent years, effectively curbing wholesalers from hoarding to drive up prices. Jiang instructed the MOEA to continue maintaining stable supply and demand in this market.
In the face of climate change resulting from global warming, landslides on the slopes in catchment areas may dump debris into rivers and streams. Hence, the premier urged the MOEA to carry on dredging in collaboration with the Council of Agriculture and local governments. Additionally, he instructed the ministry to implement rolling reviews of illegal-dredging prevention regulations and measures and amend them in accordance with environmental changes.
Although the Water Resources Agency has already introduced high-tech equipment for all-weather monitoring, Jiang instructed the competent authorities to follow a cross-agency cooperation procedure to work with prosecutors and police to prevent unscrupulous businesses from evading inspections and to formulate more effective prevention measures so that illegal dredging can be eliminated.
After listening to the report on illegal-remittance investigations by the MOJ's Bureau of Investigation, Premier Jiang said that the number of such cases has declined substantially in recent years thanks to the government's financial reforms and liberalization as well as judicial agencies' crackdowns. However, with 49 suspects caught and the money involved in these crimes totaling NT$26.2 billion (US$874.94 million) in 2013, national security concerns posed by these underground misdeeds cannot be overlooked, he warned.
Premier Jiang asked the bureau to strengthen its crackdown on illegal remittances in order to eradicate them. Regarding the strategies the agency mentioned in the report, he instructed the Financial Supervisory Commission and the MOJ to assist the bureau in preventing these crimes.