《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Taoyuan official offers apology

PROPER CONDUCT: A Taoyuan County official said new regulations have been instated to improve moral integrity and professionalism in the local government

By Hsieh Wu-hsiung and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu （吳志揚） yesterday made his first public apology on behalf of the county government over a case involving his former deputy, who has been detained on bribery charges in connection with a local housing project.

Yeh Shih-wen （葉世文） was dismissed from his position as deputy Taoyuan county commissioner on Friday last week, after prosecutors raided his office and residence earlier that day as part of an investigation into corruption allegations.

Yeh allegedly accepted bribes from Farglory Land Development Co （遠雄建設） chairman Chao Teng-hsiung （趙藤雄） in connection with a land development project in the county.

Wu yesterday apologized three times during the press conference and added that he would make himself available for questioning by authorities should the need arise.

He said that the county government is to terminate the contract with Farglory Land Development Co over the Taoyuan Bade Heyi Residence project.

Leaders of the county government’s Urban and Rural Development Bureau, Department of Land, and Public Works Department were relieved of their positions and the director and secretary-general of the Office of Ethics were reassigned to other departments due to their dereliction of duty, he added.

He said Yeh had betrayed his trust and caused a severe blow to the morale of county government employees, adding that it would take care to include moral integrity as a necessary quality in future officials in addition to their professional skills.

The county government added that it has forwarded an additional 143 cases in which Yeh participated to the Agency Against Corruption for further investigation despite the absence of evidence of illegal activities.

From now on, clear regulations are to be be made barring the host of assessment committees and case managers from attending review panels, and demanding that all official business be conducted within the county government building, the county government said.

No official business should be discussed outside of the official county government building, whether the employee is on or off duty, it said, but added that if need be, such business should be conducted in the presence of an official from the office of government ethics.

New regulations have also barred employees from meeting with businesspeople over lunch or dinner outside of the county government building.

Meanwhile, in response to the county government’s announced annulment of the contract, Far Glory Co spokesman Tsai Tsung-yi （蔡宗易） yesterday said that the company would terminate the contract in accordance with standing regulations, adding that the company asked only for the return of the guarantee funds and is writing off the other expenses incurred as losses in the venture.（Additional reporting by Lin Mei-fen）

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES