Dear editor,

A Dec. 4 Korea Times article, ``Plant Trees, Not Bricks,'' suggested planting trees to make use of funds left unused rather than pavement renovations.

I strongly disagree with the idea. Planting trees in winter sounds completely irrational and ineffective, and it is not a logical solution to cool down rampant ``December fever.''

There must be institutional flaws in the budget system of local governments. The existing system says that if local governments leave residual funds, they can't avoid a reduction in their budget for the next fiscal year.

For that reason, superfluous pavement remodeling became a part of the annual routine throughout the country. No one can deny that the expenditure is a huge waste of the people's money.

It's necessary to find a way not to waste the yearly appropriations. Here are some suggestions. First, a budget should be drawn up efficiently, not by the previous year result, but by concrete and precise annual projects to come.

Secondly, a multilateral investigation into the performance of the year should be conducted, which can judge whether there is any unnecessary road maintenance or not.

Thirdly, if a decent incentive system is introduced for saving money, local governments will try to reduce budget spending and won't need a facelift for the road any more.

In addition, institutional support should encourage local governments to consume residual funds in a wise way at a time of such economical difficulty.

``Spend more, and receive more'' sounds ridiculous, but unfortunately it is the reality in our budget system of local governments in Korea.

I strongly believe what we have to do is take action to revise the budget system more constructively, efficiently and productively rather than choosing between trees or bricks. If not, the road will be under construction at the end of every year.

Lee Eun-jung
Elementary school teacher
Bundang, Gyeonggi Province
silvergarden@hanmail.net