2018/03/21
Reported by: Yang Shuei-Yong at County Hall
Following the “Magistrate with the People” township tour in 2016, the Kinmen County Government held the “Magistrate’s Date with Fellow Countrymen” event at the Grand Auditorium of the County Hall yesterday (March 20th). Leading the directors of all subordinate agencies, Magistrate Chen Fu-Hai had a “conversation” with visiting fellow countrymen. Furthermore, he received the petitioning compatriots one by one and listened to their opinions and problems, hoping to find a solution for their difficulties and hardship and to collect grass-root public opinions and suggestions, to adjust the direction of administration for more precise priorities in governance.
The “Magistrate’s Date with Fellow Countrymen” event started yesterday at 2 pm and continued for about two and a half hours. Magistrate Chen acknowledged that the County Government’s administration has long had many shortcomings for consideration and review. He stressed that public servants must follow the law to govern and must not violate the law. On the other hand, fellow countrymen’s difficult issues in land, medical care, and education should be tackled face-to-face, and honestly, without evasion. Everyone should work together and use their wisdom to find a solution.
The purpose of this event is to bring together the first and second levels of administrators of the County Government’s subordinate agencies to meet compatriots in person, learning and solving their problems, and also allowing fellow countrymen to become aware of the County’s efforts. Magistrate Chen instructed that the problems raised in the “Magistrate’s Date with Fellow Countrymen“ event must be followed-up by all related agencies. They should be tackled right away if possible; otherwise, explanations should be given of why they cannot be handled so that it is clear to fellow citizens.
In terms of legal issues, which include the issue of land ownership, as Kinmen was under military control in the early days, its fellow citizens have not been able to reclaim their land ownership so far. Magistrate Chen pointed out that the government is currently undertaking legislation so that public servants can administer by law, hoping to solve the problem together through more legalization.
Yesterday’s event received an enthusiastic response from fellow citizens with a high turnout. There was a continuous flow of visitors to the reception desk and the auditorium. The whole event was peaceful and orderly. In the spirit of “feeling for people’s hardships” and “being concerned about people’s hardships”, Magistrate Chen responded to fellow citizens’ reactions on the scene and took in cases, mostly in the categories of “construction” and “land administration”. Based on the principle of administering by law, the County will negotiate with the central government on issues regarding central legislation, and amend related laws and regulations as soon as possible.
According to the County Government, the number of petitioned cases at the “Magistrate’s Date with Fellow Countrymen” event was 35 in total; among them the cases were in the following categories: construction: 13, land administration: 11, public works: 3, social affairs: 3, finance: 2, civil affairs: 1, environmental protection: 1, and tourism: 1. All cases were compiled by the organizer into minutes after the meeting, and forwarded by post to the governing authorities to tackle according to the nature of the cases, which would then reply to the petitioners about the implementation progress by post.
The County’s Civil Affairs Department stressed that Magistrate Chen came from the grassroots level, and had assumed the posts of township representative, township mayor, councilor, and legislator. He was well aware of the importance of listening to grassroots opinion on government policies. Since he took charge of the county governance, he paid much attention to detecting citizens’ problems and asked the County administration to be aware of public opinion.
In the future, the “Magistrate’s Date with Fellow Countrymen” event will be held on every second Tuesday of the month, to let Magistrate Chen “converse” with fellow countrymen, learning their opinions and suggestions in person, and solving their problems face-to-face.
Yesterday’s event was another initiative by the County to collect public opinion following the “Magistrate with the People” township tour the year before last, and a channel through which the County could exchange ideas with fellow citizens. By way of face-to-face communication among the county magistrate, first-level directors of the government’s subordinate agencies, and the public, the County Government hopes to listen to the true voice of the grassroots public, obtaining advice from all walks of life to adjust the direction of its governance.