CHANGWON — South Gyeongsang Province has drawn up a third supplementary budget of 436.4 billion won ($315 million) for this year and submitted it to the provincial council. The largest share goes to climate disaster response, with 162 billion won allocated to repairing disaster-prone areas and preventing river-related disasters.
The province said on the 25th that it prepared the third supplementary budget to strengthen its response to climate disasters such as extreme heat, drought and heavy rain, and to reinforce the safety net for people's livelihoods and welfare. With this addition, the province's total budget rises to 15.971 trillion won, up 2.8% from the 15.5346 trillion won under the second supplementary budget.
The province focused on preventing disasters and recovering from flood damage, expanding living infrastructure, supporting childbirth and childcare, and carrying out state-subsidized projects on schedule.
It gave priority to allocating 71.8 billion won for repairing disaster-prone areas and 90.2 billion won for preventing river-related disasters. To recover from recent drought and heavy-rain damage, it made urgent provisions of 1.5 billion won for developing water supplies against drought, 2 billion won in emergency recovery funds delivered through special grants, and 4.7 billion won for agricultural and household drought measures. It also allocated additional funds to support fish farms hit by high water temperatures and to address forest disasters.
The province is also strengthening living infrastructure and transportation support. It is investing 79.6 billion won in building and managing sewage systems to improve living conditions, and it increased funding for toll discounts on the Machang and Geoga bridges by 10.4 billion won and financial support for unprofitable intercity bus routes by 3.7 billion won.
For measures on low birth rates and educational welfare, the province increased allocations of 2.7 billion won for health care for mothers and newborns, 800 million won for fertility treatment for couples, and 7.7 billion won for wages of childcare staff. It also included 12.1 billion won to support school meal costs and 2 billion won to support the operation of Changwon National University's Geochang and Namhae campuses.
In addition, the province set aside 2.9 billion won to provide equipment to 14 emergency medical institutions to improve emergency room care. It also included the provincial government's share of social security benefits, such as housing, medical and livelihood allowances, and 70 billion won in transfers to the special account for education, to keep livelihood projects on track.
South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su said, "We drew up the budget strategically so that limited resources are used where they are truly needed." He added, "By responding proactively to facility safety, including preventing disaster risks and maintaining rivers, and to securing infrastructure for childbirth and childcare, we will focus on making a Gyeongnam where residents can feel at ease."
