Chiayi City's rail link to the high-speed rail station is stuck, with the central government and local authorities blaming each other — bad news for Chiayi residents who have waited 21 years.

• Chiayi Mayor Huang Min-hui called on Facebook for the central government to approve the project promptly and take charge of construction, saying "21 winters of lobbying, and all we got was nothing."
• Transport Minister Chen Shih-kai responded that the central government fully supports the light rail project, but that in January last year the Ministry of Transportation and Communications asked the city government to address two outstanding issues — cost-sharing arrangements and cross-county coordination — and has yet to receive a response.
• Under the Mass Rapid Transit Act, urban rapid transit is a local matter, with local governments responsible for overall planning and funding — a rule applied consistently nationwide.
• The Chiayi City government hit back, arguing that the light rail line crosses county boundaries and connects to TSMC, and that for the central government to hold the authority yet require local governments to handle coordination first amounts to a technical roadblock.
• Chen Shih-kai said a new city government team will take office in three months and that the central government will continue working with local authorities on infrastructure — remarks the city government criticised as political blackmail.

Outlook: This rail line will not move forward in the near term; the real variable will come after the new mayor takes office at the end of the year, when the central government and the Chiayi city and county governments sit down to talk again.