Former Council of Agriculture minister Lee King-lung (李金龍) yesterday accused the Forestry Bureau of accepting bribes in exchange for helping businesses that have close ties with the bureau book the presidential suite at the renovated and upgraded Alishan House (阿里山賓館) in the Alishan Forest Recreational Area in Chiayi County.
Lee made the accusation during a telephone interview with China Television Co in which he said that booking the suite requires “money or connections or some other means.”
Projects and recreational facilities managed by the bureau bring it handsome revenues, with ticket sales totaling NT$580 million (US$18.19 million) and the premium it receives from build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects amounting to NT$58 million, he was quoted as saying.
Beyond that, the bidding process for BOT projects often involves billions of New Taiwan dollars in benefits exchange between stakeholders, he said.
The Forestry Bureau took over the original hotel in 1945. It signed a 32-year contract in 2003 with Chao-Li Hotel Management Advisory Co to renovate the original hotel and build and operate a new addition.
According to the hotel’s Web site, the presidential suite measures 454.5m2 and boasts a sweeping view of Alishan (阿里山). It costs NT$300,000 a night.
It is often difficult to book the suite, the news report said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said there may have been exchanges of benefits between bureau officials and landscape engineering companies.
He said the bureau has authority over a wide range of establishments, including parks and the construction of hotels in state-owned forests, and rumors of collusion between the public and private sectors are rife.
It is widely rumored that profits can be made by both project contractors and bureau officials by undertaking landscape engineering in forest parks, Chen said.
“Some bureau officials have monthly salaries of between NT$50,000 and NT$60,000, yet many of them have been seen wearing luxury watches and driving expensive cars,” he said.
The bureau said that the presidential suite has been used only 11 times since the hotel was renovated and dismissed the rumor about difficulties booking it.
People can call the hotel directly if they want to reserve a room and do not need to go through the bureau, it said.
It said that all projects involving private firms were carried out in a lawful manner and according to contracts and that the public is welcome to file any reports of perceived illegalities to the authorities.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we