Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday continued questioning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice presidential candidate Su Jia-chyuan’s (蘇嘉全) integrity, this time by saying Su’s cousin was involved in an illegal sand mining and gravel business.
Over the past few weeks, Chiu has accused Su’s wife, Hung Heng-chu (洪恆珠), of illegally purchasing a plot of agricultural land and illegally constructing a farmhouse and alleged that government-owned land was illegally occupied by the ancestral graveyard of Su’s family.
He also alleged that Su’s elder brother and his wife had illegally used a piece of farmland as a night market and collected rent from vendors of 80 to 100 stalls in the market.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Chiu yesterday accused Su’s cousin Wu Liang-ching (吳亮慶), a Pingtung County councilor, of illegally turning a piece of agricultural land into a gravel grinding plant in the county’s Guangfu Village, Gaoshu Township (高樹).
When Su served as commissioner of the Pingtung County Government, the plot of land was designated in 2002 as a venue for an aviation exhibition and a site for flying ultralight aircraft, but ended up as a gravel grinding plant without a license, Chiu said, adding that Wu was associated with the gravel grinding plant.
Council of Agriculture (COA) Chief Secretary Tai Yu-yen (戴玉燕) and Ministry of Finance Taxation Agency Deputy Director-General Hsiao Shu-tsun (蕭樹村), both whom were asked by the KMT caucus to attend the press conference where Chiu raised the allegation, said they would look into the matter.
Wu has rejected the allegation and asked Chiu to verify information before he accused anybody, “so as not to hurt innocent third parties.” Wu added that his family and Su’s family haven’t got along for about 10 years, which everyone in the county knew.
Wu said he bought a 40 hectare piece of land in Guangfu Village in 2005, 10 hectares of which were used for a gravel grinding plant and 4 hectares of which were intended to be an airfield for ultralight aircraft operation.
Wu said he had used the land as a gravel grinding plant ever since he bought it and he applied for a license in 2007, when the government started to legalize plants without licenses.
Su yesterday demanded that Chiu stop making what he described as groundless accusations against himself, his friends and relatives.
Meanwhile, on Chiu’s allegation that Hung illegally built a residence on a parcel of farmland under the guise of a “farmhouse,” Su reiterated that his and his wife’s ownership of the farmhouse and farmland is completely legal.
He added that in farm villages, growing fruit or vegetables is generally accepted as “agricultural production,” whether it is for economic purposes or not.
COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄), at a separate setting yesterday, said the council had requested the Pingtung County Government to help investigate the matter.
Existing regulations stipulate that a farmhouse should occupy no more than 10 percent of a farm’s area and that the remaining 90 percent of the land should be used for agricultural purposes.
The county government has said on Monday that Su’s farmhouse does not violate the regulations as the building does not exceed 10 percent of the total area and fruit trees and seedlings are being grown on the land.
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