While the construction of new office buildings for local self-governing organizations in Busan proceeds, expanding public facilities, such as libraries and public health centers that are for the benefit of residents, is at a standstill at the moment. According to a report by the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), one city library has had no additional construction work done for 12 years and five out of several local autonomous entities have no libraries at all. Moreover, for public health centers, a wide regional disproportion of health benefits still exists. For instance, the ratio of users to area per each organization differs by 17 times from one to another. This is a result of wasting budget and administrative capacity on ‘imitation’ festivals or exhibitions. At the same time, local self-governing bodies have disregarded expanding public facilities which would maintain the value of their existence and be, indeed, needed for the local residents.

In the case of Busan Jin-gu Office, it has the largest office building of all the local self-governing organizations in Busan, but the public health center is the smallest. However, the number of users of this center is the third largest out of all the health centers in the Busan region. The need for new construction or enlarging the public health center is now apparent.

The report showed that the number of users of a library is proportionate to the size of the library. In other words, it means that the expansion of library facilities indicates the increase of the number of users, which would contribute to the advance of cultural level and to improvement in the quality of life. The size and the state of libraries might imply how local organizations treat the residents in cultural aspects.

Furthermore, the report reveals that the rental of government buildings is not yet revitalized. Six organizations have never lent their conference rooms to the outside. It is questioned as to why they cannot make the buildings an "open space." The answer might be caused by an attitude that the public facilities are a place only for public officials. The expansion of public facilities, including libraries and public health centers, is the administration that the local residents want. The administration that grants the requests of the residents and adjusts priorities in response is the right path and the core of the local autonomous entity. This is the only right way to use the precious tax money paid by local residents.

입력시간: 2006. 10.18. 09:49