Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian stressed Sunday that administration reform will start at the "heart" and that it will not only consist of adjustments to systems and regulations.
The president made the remarks at a national administration reform conference. The president noted that the Executive Yuan, in handling whether the Feb. 28 Memorial Day should remain a public holiday or a regular workday, has revealed its lack of a concept of cost-efficiency, saying that the public has suffered because of such a lack of efficiency.
The Cabinet announced that Feb. 28 will remain a public holiday, at least for this year, due to the fact that the Legislative Yuan does not have enough time to deal with the issue before this year's holiday.
He noted that public criticism will give the impetus for the government to improve and that the people's expectations and discontent will help lead to an upgrading of government efficiency.
The president urged for the establishment of the notion of government service as a core value and said that civil servants will take the initiative in safeguarding the interests of the people.
President Chen also spoke about four kinds of government management, namely goal setting, growth, mobility, and crisis management.
With respect to goal setting, Chen pointed to post-quake reconstruction after Sept. 21, 1999, saying settlement of the problems faced by quake-affected people should progress as scheduled.
On growth management, the president said that the public service shouldn't only focus on growth figures and forget the mission of government management. He cited the example of the construction of the high-speed railway between Taipei and Kaohsiung and its effect on the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park as an example, saying that the Executive Yuan should intervene in advance to coordinate and to avoid businesses in the park from moving out because of concerns over the construction of the high-speed rail.
On mobile management, he urged civil servants to turn away from the red tape and bureaucracy and travel to the scenes of problems to try to solve them as early as possible.
The president also cited the oil spill problem in National Kenting Park in southern Taiwan to illustrate crisis management, saying that all government agencies have to coordinate and act swiftly to prevent oil spills and protect wildlife.