DP vows cuts as 4-river project begins

As groundbreaking ceremonies took place for part of the four-river restoration project yesterday, the main opposition Democratic Party vowed to cut the expenditure for it through scrutiny in the upcoming parliamentary budget sessions.

In a press conference attended by its Supreme Council member Kim Jin-pyo and lawmaker Kim Sung-soon, the party made clear its intention of prolonging the budget reviews until late next month.

The regular parliamentary session is scheduled to end Dec. 9, however, five parliamentary committees have yet to agree on a date for budget review, which comes before the session of the special committee on budget and accounts.

"If President Lee Myung-bak has nothing to hide, he should present the specific data on the construction costs of the reservoirs, dredges and ecological rivers divided by each construction section. That is the only way the budget review session will be held as scheduled," they said.

Stating that the state educational budget has been cut 3.5 percent for next year, the DP expects to put its utmost effort into minimizing the budget on the four-river restoration project and transferring that amount into other areas, such as education and welfare, according to Kim.



The four-river restoration project, keenly pushed by the president, is a plan intended to fundamentally prevent natural disasters like floods and droughts and protect the ecosystem, as well as promoting culture and history tourism along the four major rivers - the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan - by 2012.

The groundbreaking ceremony, attended by President Lee, took place at Yeongsan River and for a new reservoir in Geum River, respectively in Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces, yesterday.

The legislators belonging to the ruling Grand National Party say the project is essential for green growth, while lawmakers of the opposition parties claim it would produce a shortage of drinking water and cause environmental damage.

The floor leaders of the two major political parties are projected to meet sometime this week to further discuss their stance before proceeding with the review process of next year`s budget set at 291.8 trillion won ($251.85 billion).

They previously held a meeting last week to iron out differences that existed involving next year`s budget and the Sejong City development project but remained far apart.

What could be called a small achievement was that GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo and DP floor leader Lee Kang-rae came close to reaching an agreement on convening an extra parliamentary session next month to pass bills such as revisions of some laws, like political funding and election.

The main opposition DP, however, insisted its lawmakers would continue to boycott the budget review sessions unless the government provides them with their requested data on the four-river restoration project.

In the meantime, President Lee reaffirmed his will to go forward with the four-river restoration project, urging that the opposition should not put on the breaks due to political reasons during the groundbreaking ceremony at Yeongsan River.

"We`re not trying to make a decision on whether to give a green or red light to the four-river restoration project. It is a project that must be done at this point in time," he said. "Being a project that determines the future happiness of the people, I don`t believe the project should be affected politically."

(sharon@heraldm.com)



By Cho Ji-hyun