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Kaohsiung deputy mayor defends BEP official in custody

Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) denied categorically yesterday that the city government's Bureau of Environ-mental Protection (BEP) had been involved in electioneering.

Chiu made the remarks after BEP Director Hsiao Yu-cheng (蕭裕正) was taken into custody early yesterday morning for allegedly wining and dining the city's street cleaners in the hope of winning their support for a specific candidate running in the Jan. 12 legislative elections.

Hsiao was also accused of having solicited support for a legislative candidate while throwing a lunch party on Nov. 24 to entertain more than 20 members of the city's cleaning staff, including heads of several street cleaning squads in the Sanmin District.

Claiming that entertaining Sanmin District street cleaners was part of Hsiao's efforts to boost the morale of environmental protection workers after the city's dengue fever outbreak was brought under control, Chiu said the lunch party in question had nothing to do with the legislative elections.

"No legislative candidate appeared at the lunch party and no campaign literature was handed out during the occasion," Chiu said.

He said nobody had spoken for any candidate during the gathering.

Stressing that Hsiao had not only entertained Sanmin District street cleaning staff but also those in other city districts, Chiu said he believed that Hsiao was unlikely to have campaigned for any particular candidate on such an occasion.

"We are hopeful that judicial authorities can complete relevant investigations and get to the bottom of the case as soon as possible, " Chiu said.

He said he was convinced that a thorough probe into the allegations would clear Hsiao's name and the city's cleaning staff.
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