(22 May 2007) SHOTLIST
SOUNDBITE:
1. Wide of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's motorcade
2. Bachelet arrives at chamber
3. Audience applauding
4. Bachelet walking down through chamber
5. Audience applauding
6. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Eduardo Frei, President of the Chilean Senate:
"I now hand the floor over to her excellency, Mrs. President of the Republic, Doctor Bachelet."
7. Bachelet approaches the podium
8. Audience applauding
9. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Michelle Bachelet, Chilean President:
"One serious problem is the public transport in the city of Santiago. The public transport is very dangerous and the city is very polluted. I said at the beginning of my term that something would have to be done. And it has been done poorly and has been a bad, frustrating experience for a majority of Santiago residents, especially the poorer sectors. I understand people are angry."
10. Various of audience
11. Protestors being apprehended on the camber's balcony by police
12. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Michelle Bachelet, Chilean President:
"The basis of human rights is education, and preserving the memories of those that perished under the dictatorships. That is the way of preventing those heinous painful acts in the future. And I promised last year that as long as there are less fortunate people we will continue to look for them. And we are."
13. STILL of chamber
STORYLINE:
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet apologised on Monday for failing to fix her capital's inadequate public transport system, and promised to reduce budget surpluses while raising education spending by hundreds of (m) millions of US dollars.
Bachelet devoted her second state-of-the-nation address to defusing anger over poor transport and underfunded schools, issues that have sparked violent protests and sending her once-soaring approval ratings below 50 percent for the first time.
"One serious problem is the public transport in the city of Santiago. The public transport is very dangerous and the city is very polluted. I said at the beginning of my term that something would have to be done about it," she added.
Bachelet added that to this point the problems with Santiago's public transport had not been rectified.
She proposed creating a transit authority, urged Congress to approve 290 million (m) US dollars for two thousand additional buses and other upgrades, and said guaranteed the problems will be solved without raising fares.
Many of the capital's 6 (m) million residents have been forced to walk long distances and switch lines two or three times to get to work or school, and buses virtually vanish after 11pm.
Anger has boiled over in street demonstrations and attacks on buses.
Bachelet fired her transport minister in March, and took responsibility for the problems on Monday, even though the bus system is privately operated and was planned under her predecessor, fellow socialist President Ricardo Lagos.
During her speech she also spoke about remembering those who have perished under previous dictatorships - including those under former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973-1990 and died last December.
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