Taiwan Sugar Sells 13 Old Trees for 280,000 Yuan, Accused by Xizhou Township Office of Selling Them Off Cheaply
To revitalize a 5-hectare building plot next to Xizhou Forest Park, Taiwan Sugar recently sold the 13 old trees on the site to a landscaping company for 280,000 yuan, hoping that after the land was cleaned up it could be rented out smoothly. Unexpectedly, the move drew pushback from the Xizhou Township Office. Township chief Huang Shenglu, chief secretary Wu Yinning and local residents not only stepped in to stop the company from digging up the soil and cutting the roots, but also sharply criticized Taiwan Sugar for selling the old trees off cheaply and profiting a private enterprise.
A company carries out root-digging work (photo provided by "I Love Xizhou")Taiwan Sugar: We dealt with the old trees to revitalize the land
Responding to the township office's accusations, Huang Xiwen, section chief of the farm section at Taiwan Sugar's Xihu Sugar Factory, explained that this plot is residential-zone land owned by Taiwan Sugar. It was originally meant for housing, but because Xizhou Township's population is not large enough to support that, the land has just sat idle and been left for everyone to use. Considering that the land value tax has risen, the cost of holding this plot has also climbed steadily, and to cut expenses they decided to rent the land out. He also said that if the land is to be used, it must first be cleaned up properly, so they decided to sell the trees first.
The plot originally had 47 old trees in total, but for various reasons only 27 were left, so they decided to first sell 13 old trees to the company, including longan trees, mahogany, camphor trees and bishop wood, in order to achieve "land revitalization."
Not only that, he stressed that the tree sale followed legal procedures. They had previously asked for 700,000 yuan and held three rounds of bidding, but all ended in failed tenders. Recently Dongdao Lin Garden Landscape Company expressed interest in making an offer, and after negotiations the two sides settled on 280,000 yuan.
Wu Yinning, chief secretary of the Xizhou Township Office, said they stand on the side of protecting the trees. These trees must not be sold off cheaply and should be kept in place, because Taiwan Sugar is a state-run enterprise and these trees should also be made available for public use, such as for holding a "Black Mud Season" event or using them as an ecological park. Together with the nearby Wufen Road, the plot could become a cultural garden that everyone can share, and in the future people from all over Taiwan could come and take part in using it. In the future they will also ask the Changhua County Government to register and list these old trees for management.
Wu Yinning also pointed out that at this stage they are communicating with Taiwan Sugar and hope the old trees can be preserved. As for the contract between Taiwan Sugar and the company, that has not yet been resolved. Although the township office tried to negotiate with the company to pause work for the time being, it did not receive a friendly response, so they decided to bring the matter to the public.
Company: If Taiwan Sugar wants to terminate the contract, it must pay compensation and apologize
Responding to the township office's accusations, Luo Rongdai, general manager of Dongdao Lin Garden Landscape Company, retorted that if the township office wants to direct what happens to the old trees, it should first obtain ownership of the land. They are not cutting trees at random, and they have a contract with Taiwan Sugar in hand, so on what grounds can Taiwan Sugar be forced to terminate it? Besides, these trees have already been sold to other companies; they are being moved to a better growing environment, not turned into timber. Is that not a good approach?
Luo also stressed that they had not received any call from the township office and did not know where the so-called "communication" came from. He therefore urged Wu Yinning not to use this issue to campaign and build momentum for a run for Xizhou township chief, or to play with public power, and said the matter of transplanting the old trees should be left to professionals. In addition, if Taiwan Sugar really terminates the contract, the other side should bear all related compensation liability and attach a written apology, and only then would they let the matter drop.
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