By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A state-controlled fertilizer company is selling “watered-down” Chinese fertilizer and has become a place where retired officials and former lawmakers can earn huge salaries, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators said yesterday.
Taiwan Fertilizer Co (Taifer) sells poor-quality imported Chinese fertilizer despite being the largest fertilizer manufacturer and distributor in Taiwan, DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference.
Local farmers have struggled as fertilizer price have increased by about 40 percent this year and farmers had to purchase more fertilizer because of the poor quality of Chinese imports, Pan said.
“If the manufacturer has become a trading company that has to import urea, one of the basic fertilizers, why do we need such a state-controlled company?” Pan said.
Pan said Taifer imported fertilizers from manufacturers in China’s Guangdong, Shandong and Liaoning provinces.
The company has always been a place for the ruling party to “reward” retired government officials or former legislators and make them “fat cats” with huge salaries, DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said.
The monthly salary for Taifer chairman Lee Fu-hsing (李復興), a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker, is more than NT$230,000, Wu said.
The party has urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to conduct a complete review of state-controlled enterprises after recent news relating to Taiwan Power Co, CPC Corp, Taiwan, and now Taifer enraged the public, DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said.
DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the Republic of China is now “the Republic of [Fat] Cats,” adding that state-controlled companies or foundations should be institutions that supplement government policies, not places where retired officials make a fortune.