Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice presidential candidate Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) of breaking the law.
Showing photographs of two detached mansions in a vacant lot, Chiu accused Su of violating rules governing the use of farmland which stipulate that the percentage of a plot of agricultural land used for houses should not exceed 10 percent.
Chiu made the allegations during a question-and-answer session at the legislature.
According to Chiu, construction permits for the two mansions located in the Changchih Township (長治), Pingtung County, where Su Jia-chyuan’s family and that of his sister-in-law live, were awarded in 2003 when Su Jia-chyuan was county commissioner.
By using the farmland to build the mansions Su had violated the “Regulations Governing Agricultural Dwelling Houses” (農業用地興建農舍辦法), established to ensure that farmland is used for agricultural purposes, Chiu said.
Although the issuance of such permits was within the sphere of local governments’ statutory authority, it was a violation of conflict-of-interest rules that Pingtung County Government approved the projects, Chiu added.
Chiu asked Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and the Executive Yuan to look into possible negligence on the part of Pingtung County Commissioner Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻), who Chiu claimed said in 2007 that the local government would raze the mansions, but had so far failed to do so.
Chiu also accused Su Chia-fu (蘇嘉富), Su Jia-chyuan’s older brother, of involvement in the illegally mined sand and gravel businesses, citing a statement made by the older Su in a case he brought against Chiu in 2008, a case in which prosecutors decided not to indict Chiu.
In the statement Su Chia-fu told prosecutors that he sometimes played the role of intermediary between buyers and the sand and gravel mining industry and that police turned a blind eye to truck drivers suspected of transporting illegally mined sand and gravel when they learned that they were working with Su Chia-fu when Su Jia-chyuan was commissioner, Chiu said.
Chiu also alleged that Su Jia-chyuan’s wife, Hung Heng-chu (洪恆珠), a public servant, accompanied him on electioneering on Tuesday during working hours.
In response, DPP campaign office spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said the allegations were all untrue.
“The integrity of Su Jia-chyuan has been tried and tested in many elections. The DPP will not dance to Chiu’s tune,” Hsu said, adding that Su Jia-chyuan had obtained legitimate permits to build his house and Hung had taken a day off on Tuesday.
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