Incheon has fully expanded its ‘Incheon i Sea Pass’ benefit to frontline personnel working in remote island regions, including soldiers, police officers and firefighters. Career soldiers from other regions and others who had fallen into a support blind spot because they do not hold a registered address in Incheon will now be able to cut their maritime transportation costs to the same level as local residents.
 [코리안투데이] Incheon coastal ferry terminal © 장형임 기자 |
The Incheon Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Chan-dae) announced that it is expanding the eligibility for the ‘Incheon i Sea Pass’—a program pursued to improve the convenience of maritime transportation—to include soldiers, military civilian employees, police officers, firefighters and public health doctors working in island regions.
The partial amendment to the enforcement rule of the Incheon Metropolitan City Ordinance on Support for Ferry Fares in Island Areas, which contains these provisions, recently cleared final review by the Ordinance and Rule Deliberation Council. The amended enforcement rule takes effect immediately upon its promulgation on Sept. 21.
Until now, Incheon residents have been able to use coastal ferries for 1,500 won one way through the ‘Incheon i Sea Pass,’ but career soldiers and others from outside the region who do not hold a registered address in Incheon were unable to receive this benefit. In effect, even while serving on islands for the sake of national security and public service, they had to bear the full burden of the ferry fare themselves.
This amendment came about in just over two months after Mayor Park Chan-dae responded to the issue of ferry-fare burdens on troops stationed on islands, which was raised during the President’s visit to the Marine Corps’ Yeonpyeong unit last June. Going a step further, Incheon broadened the eligibility beyond career soldiers to include military civilian employees, police officers, firefighters and public health doctors in order to eliminate policy blind spots at their root.
Starting Sept. 21, when the enforcement rule is promulgated, those newly included as eligible will receive from Incheon the full amount exceeding the basic city bus fare (1,500 won) out of the combined total of the regular fare, fuel surcharge and passenger terminal usage fee on the day of boarding. In practice, they will be able to use ferries for 1,500 won one way, the same as ordinary residents.
Incheon estimates that this measure will allow about 1,700 frontline workers in the fields of security, public safety and public health care in island regions to feel a real reduction in their maritime transportation costs.
Incheon has also continued to expand benefits for island residents. Earlier, effective July 1, it introduced the 1,500-won city bus fare scheme for ‘people connected to the islands’—that is, ‘former residents’ who had their registered domicile on an Incheon island or had maintained resident registration there for 10 years or more, as well as their families—who had previously received support for only 70 percent of the regular fare. The aim is to improve the living conditions of settled residents who face inconvenience due to the growing number of island visitors.
Mayor Park Chan-dae said, ‘Special sacrifice must be met with special reward,’ adding, ‘I find it deeply meaningful that we can provide real benefits to the frontline workers who quietly guard the outermost island regions in the fields of security, public safety and public health care, even under difficult conditions.’ He continued, ‘Going forward, we will continue to identify and pursue various revitalization policies that improve the settlement conditions of island regions, in order to create islands where people stay that drive stay-type tourism and an expanded living population.’
지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화코리안브랜드대상 신청 최고경영인대상 신청 소비자만족도대상 신청
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