Smaller cars to run on LPG next year

Starting next year, smaller automobiles that pump cheaper liquefied petroleum gas will hit the streets. Hybrid cars may also be built to pump LPG, but for a limited period of time, up to 2015, the government transition committee said yesterday.

The measures were unveiled to help households cope with soaring oil prices and global climate control policies, while at the same time cutting oil consumption and pollution, said Lee Dong-gwan, the committee spokesman.

In November last year, the government agreed to allow the manufacturing of smaller automobiles using LPG this year, but there had been some controversy over the safety of such cars. LPG is a few hundred won cheaper than petroleum, but it has triggered explosions occasionally when vehicles powered by the fuel were involved in accidents.

The Commerce Ministry recently vouched for the safety of smaller cars fueled by LPG.

The transition team also announced that it would offer more free briquettes to people earning lower incomes to help cut their energy costs.

The new government is seeking multiple measures for reducing the country`s reliance on coal and crude oil, while easing the impact of sky-high oil prices. As part of such policies, the Lee administration will seek to raise the proportion of recycled energy so that it may total 5 percent of oil and coal consumption by 2011. The Lee Myung-bak administration will also focus on promoting nuclear energy, which is one of the cheaper and more effective forms of energy.

Now entering its second phase of finalizing the new governing framework under President-elect Lee Myung-bak, the government transition team has addressed a wide range of issues the past week.

Regarding Lee`s election pledge to build a vast framework of cross-country canals, the transition team said it would take about a year to begin the waterways` construction.

"The president-elect has told me himself that it would be at least 2009 before the construction may begin. It is a wrong perception to believe the work on the canals will begin immediately," said Lee Kyung-sook, the committee chairwoman.

The canal system has come under much criticism from environmentalists and other critics who cite the impracticality of the project, and the pollution it may cause.

An area of renewed interest for the president-elect is provincial government.

"One of the goals of overhauling the government is to help each organization play its part and contribute the best it can. For example, what the central government does better should remain under its wing, while roles better fitting provincial administrations should be transferred to provincial governments," said Park Hyung-jun, head of the committee`s planning and coordination division yesterday during a radio interview.

He stressed that the president-elect`s chief goal is to assemble an effective and efficient government.

The transition team is expected to announce the final version of the overhaul plan next Monday during a press conference. The most plausible scenario for now is that the current 18 ministries and four smaller sub-ministries will be reorganized into 14 ministries and two sub-ministries.

Functions at key ministries are expected to be drastically shifted around to group similar faculties together while at the same time the agencies will be stripped of most redundant responsibilities. During this process, some essential government duties are to be transferred to the provinces, such as the Education Ministry`s authority over school curriculum and the appointment of teachers at elementary and junior high schools.

At the end of this month, the president-elect is scheduled to make rounds at provincial governments to discuss how he would implement his election pledges for revitalizing rural corners of the country.

On Jan. 22, Lee Myung-bak is slated to attend a regular nationwide meeting of governors and mayors to talk over plans for pursuing balanced national development.

Aides said it was likely Lee would discuss installing a body to promote communication between provincial leaders and the presidential office.

The committee said the president-elect is avidly pursuing measures for reviving provincial economies.