Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co yesterday denied media reports and the accusations of pan-green politicians that it drove prices of produce up by colluding with speculators.
Company union director-general Chang Pao-chih (張寶智) led dozens of company employees in a demonstration ahead of a board of directors meeting, vowing to defend the company’s reputation.
The company is in charge of regulating auctions of produce to ensure that they are sold at reasonable prices, a job that is so important that it has motivated the company’s auctioneers to value their integrity as much as their lives, Chang said.
The term “borer,” which pundits and politicians have used to describe the company’s alleged speculative practices, has unjustly tarnished its reputation, as the auctions are largely automated and computerized, he said, adding that the process is videotaped and therefore totally transparent.
Critics of the company should provide evidence for the accusations they have made about the company, he said.
The union also demanded the removal of Council of Agriculture-appointed director Lee Ching-sheng (李慶生).
Chang accused Lee of having resorted to improper influence to have himself promoted during his tenure as a vice manager at the company, adding that his connection with nightclubs raises questions about his integrity.
Lee was handed a demerit and demoted to a lower pay grade for his solicitation of external influence for personal gain, Chang said, criticizing the council’s appointment as misinformed and an insult to the company.
Company acting president Chen Yi-tsung (陳益宗) defended former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), urging the media and politicians to “bring justice” to Chang.
Chen dismissed insinuations that Chang had interfered with the produce market, saying that he had never heard anything about Chang being involved in such behavior during Chen’s eight years as a director at the Taiwan Provincial Fruit Marketing Cooperative, which holds 9.5 percent of the company’s shares.
Chen said that a recent increase in produce prices was the result of a succession of typhoons, which wreaked havoc on farms in Yunlin and Changhua counties, adding that the price hikes are not limited to Taipei, but are nationwide.
As the company collects agricultural products from across the nation before auctioning them to distributors, accusing the company of negligence is treating it unfairly and politicizing the matter, Chen said.
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