Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing (TAPM) general manager Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧) yesterday hit back against her critics over a scandal involving her shipping surplus vegetables to Changhua County, which has prompted prosecutors to initiate a probe.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei city councilors raised the issue last week, saying that Wu granting unwarranted benefits to two villages in her native Changhua County constituted corruption.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday said it would start the investigation after complaints were filed against Wu.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Prosecutors said they plan to summon Wu and other officials for questioning and examine documents that reportedly show that Wu bought unsold vegetables after TAPM auction sales ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Wu yesterday said the 9.12 tonnes of unsold vegetables that she bought for NT$19,000 were donated to charitable organizations that prepare meals for the underprivileged.
“In the past, the remaining vegetables would be reported as waste, which would then be taken away in garbage trucks,” Wu said.
“I could not bear to see these fine vegetables turned into garbage, because growing them takes the sweat and toil of hard-working farmers,” she said.
“I bought them using money budgeted for the general manager’s sales and promotional work. The vegetables would go to charities and be used to prepare meals for elderly people and underprivileged people in rural communities,” Wu said.
“The decision was legal and for a good cause — to help needy people,” Wu said, adding that a system should be instituted to keep surplus vegetables from going to waste.
“We had truck drivers who made deliveries from Changhua County and who were willing to deliver the surplus stock on their trip home at no cost to TAPM, as their trucks were empty after being unloaded and it was for a good cause,” she said.
TAPM is considered a private company, with the Taipei City Government holding a minority stake, so it is legal for Wu as the general manager to apportion the appropriate funds as part of her duty to promote the business, she said.
Nevertheless, Wu made a public apology, saying that she was sorry to have caused a controversy that affected the charitable organizations.
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