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Jeju spent 31.4 billion won on its New7Wonders campaignAssembly members upset that 8 billion won came from island’s emergency fund |
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On Feb. 9, during the Provincial Assembly’s Culture and Tourism Committee briefing, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province revealed that the total cost of the island’s New7Wonders of Nature campaign was 31.4 billion won (US$28 million).
According to the provincial government, phone votes charged to government offices cost 21.18 billion won. An additional 4.55 billion won was spent to cover the cost of management, compensation, and other expenses.
A total of 25.7 billion won was paid for with taxes, while the remaining 5.6 billion was covered through quasi taxes like donations by Jeju residents to the New7Wonders of Nature Jeju Committee for phone votes.
The Jeju government has yet to fully disclose the total number of phone votes.
It was also revealed that Jeju’s contract for entering the competition was not made with the New7Wonders Foundation but rather with Bernard Weber’s private company, the New Open World Cooperation (NOWC).
The provincial government paid 10.42 billion (US$ 9.3 million), with 2.28 billion won from Jeju’s revised supplementary budget, and 8.1 billion won from its emergency fund.
Assembly members are complaining that money, which is allotted for emergencies, was used for Jeju’s New7Wonders campaign without consulting the Provincial Assembly.
Currently, the Jeju government owes KT corporation 10.7 billion won, but the two parties have come to an agreement and KT has reduce that amount to 6.59 billion won.
In that regard, the Jeju government plans to pay 110 million won a month for for the next five years.
Contrary to earlier statements by the provincial government, Jeju’s New7wonders contract was made between the Jeju Tourism Organization, the Island’s official sponsor for its New7Wonders of Nature campaign, and the NOWC, Weber’s private company.
Previously, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the New7Wonders of Nature Jeju Committee had emphasized that the New7Wonders Foundation was the organization that Jeju made the contract with.
The provincial government refused to provide the total number of votes casted in Jeju.
“The number of votes made by the people of Jeju should be released,” said Provincial Assembly Member Kim Young Beom. He added, “The doubts are building up because the numbers are not being released.”
“We cannot reveal the total number of votes made in Jeju because it would be violating the principles of the New7Wonders Foundation,” said Yang Young Keun, the president of Jeju Tourism Organization.
“We’re still doubt,” a member of the civic groups that attended the briefing expressed their concerns, and they added “It’s possible that the provincial government announced inaccurate number to avoid audits.”
(Translated by Angela Kim) |
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ⓒ Jeju Weekly 2009 (http://www.jejuweekly.net)
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Copyright ⓒ 2009 All materials on this site are protected under the Korean Copyright Law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published
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