Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said yesterday that ministry would not sell any of its property, adding that it would only lease land.
Yeh made the statement at the legislature's Transportation Committee in response to legislators' concerns about skyrocketing property prices.
The committee had been scheduled to review the performance of companies in which the ministry has a stake, including Chunghwa Telecom, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp, Asia-Pacific Telecom and others.
Yeh said the market value of the properties owned by the ministry was estimated at more than NT$100 billion (US$3.13 billion).
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin ((葉宜津) said Chunghwa Telecom was the 〝Directorate-〝General of Telecommunications (DGT) before it was privatized. She said the land the company owns, mostly in metropolitan areas, was state-owned property drafted by the government for use by the DGT at a relatively low price.
She said that Chunghwa, however, established a land 〝development firm to dispose of these properties by selling them to large construction companies.
"Because of this, the housing prices in the nation's urban areas remain high and the large consortiums ended up reaping profits," she said.
Yeh Yi-jin asked the ministry to present a strategy to regulate the sale of its properties.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on March 2 halted the National Property Administration's (NPA) plan to invite bids on state-owned land in Taipei City after legislators expressed concern that the bidding would contribute to price gouging among construction companies and realtors.
Wu had made the move after several pieces of state-owned property sold at record-high prices in auctions held by the NPA.
A 121.3 ping plot of state-owned land on Jianguo S Road in Da-an District (大安) sold for NT$731 million in late February, more than NT$6 million per ping.
Meanwhile, other legislators on the committee expressed concern about the huge financial losses accumulated by Yang Ming Marine Transportation, which amounted to NT$15.8 billion last year.
Yang Ming president Robert Ho said that the global economic downturn had reduced demand for shipping last year. He said shipping service revenues were down NT$42.6 billion.
Ho said that other large marine freight companies also suffered losses last year. Maersk, the world's largest, announced financial losses of US$2.08 billion last year. Other major firms around the world declared losses amid the economic downturn as well.
"Demand has risen this year, particularly for freight to Europe. We estimate the company will return to profit this year," Ho said.
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