After failing to front up to prosecutors yesterday for questioning over allegations of graft in the construction of an incinerator, Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) received a second summons from the Yunlin District Prosecutor's Office.
Some Yunlin County councilors expressed support for Chang yesterday, while environmentalists insist that alleged kickbacks from the project are typical of how public construction projects are handled in this country.
Following a raid on Chang's residence and office on Friday, prosecutors summoned him to appear for questioning yesterday. However, Chang did not respond to the summons and did not appear at the offices of the prosecutors.
Chang's sister, Chang Li-shan (
"Su tried to be an intermediary for the incinerator project but failed. I suspect that the prosecutor's investigation was influenced by the opinions of Su," Chang Li-shan said.
Su, who is believed to be interested in running for county commissioner at the next election, dismissed the accusation.
"It's absurd. I have never known a prosecutor by that name," Su said.
She added that she had opposed the incinerator project for years and had never been involved in land purchases for the project.
Responding to Chang Li-shan's accusation, Yunlin Chief Prosecutor Hung Shao-wen (
He said that prosecutors would continue to ask Chang Jung-wei to appear, and that if he did not eventually show up he would be detained.
In debate at the county council, councilor Cheng Kuo-yi (
Environmentalists said, however, that it was a shame that the project had led to such an embarrassing situation.
"We didn't see any government mechanisms doing a responsible evaluation of the project. The remote location of the Linnei Incinerator made the cost of transporting household waste three times greater than that for incinerators elsewhere in the country," Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) of the Taiwan Watch Institute told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Hsieh said that the environmental impact assessment for the pro-ject was conducted sloppily because no one had asked questions about the project's high unit cost for treating household waste -- about NT$2,100 per tonne.
Hsieh said the Linnei Incinerator was just the tip of the iceberg, because projects with similar problems existed in other jurisdictions. For example, Hsieh said, the unit cost for an incinerator under trial in Taitung County was about NT$2,300 per tonne. The standard unit cost for other municipal incinerators treating household waste is less than NT$1,000.
About 90 percent of the construction of the Linnei Incinerator, the daily treatment limit of which is 600 tonnes, has been completed. The NT$3.3 million project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
The Yunlin Prosecutor's Office said the investigation into the alleged bribery began in June, when an anonymous Yunlin resident reported that county government officials -- including Chang Jung-wei -- had accepted a sizable bribe.
Since June, eight contractors and officials have been detained by prosecutors in relation to the case.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS