Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday dismissed speculation that he was behind the removal of China Shipbuilding Corp chairman Yu Chen-nan (余辰南) from his post to take the responsibility for structural flaws in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Yu's replacement will come from public recruiting, since the premier has publicly announced that the presidents of state-run-enterprises will be selected by such means beginning July 1.
Yu, along with the company's general manager Chiang Yuan-chang (
"My management philosophy has been 100 percent participation in the very beginning and then total authorization," the premier said.
The premier's remark came after media reports that he was unhappy with the punishments meted out last Saturday, which the reports said he considered to be too lenient.
On June 15, the ministry punished 22 officials of the two state-run firms responsible for the fiasco over structural flaws in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant -- the Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and China Shipbuilding Corp.
The officials were punished for allowing inferior materials and shoddy workmanship that resulted in structural defects in the reactor pedestal of the plant.
China Shipbuilding Corp is responsible for constructing the plant's reactor pedestal.
The punishments -- in the form of demerits -- drew immediate criticism from both the media and the public because not one high-ranking official was asked to step down.
Much of the speculation suggested that the punishments were light because some DPP lawmakers are involved in the project.
The Ministry of Justice yesterday dismissed those reports.
"So far the ministry has not found any lawmaker to be involved in the case," Cabinet Spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢) quoted Minister of Justice Chen Ting-nan (陳定南) as saying after the weekly closed-door Cabinet affairs meeting yesterday morning.
The premier yesterday also requested both the public and the media to give Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) some time to follow up on the matter.
"I'm well aware that both the media and the public are eager to see the matter come to an end, but please allow [Lin] some time to tackle the issue since he's currently out of the country," the premier said.
He added that Saturday's punishments were for those who are directly involved in the project. The ministry will make public its further handling of the matter in the near future, including the punishment of more officials, he said.
According to the premier, he was aware of the fiasco as early as March, when the Cabinet's Atomic Energy Council briefed him on the matter.
"I told them to take necessary and appropriate measures and when the media disclosed the news, I told them to carefully handle the matter, including meting out punishments if necessary," he said.
The premier also apologized for blocking the media from asking him questions regarding the issue earlier in the day.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) announced in a press conference yesterday that before the new chairman is publicly recruited, a temporary chairman would be selected from among the 15 board members of the CSBC.
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