COA seeking to develop long-term stay program

The Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday that it will soon meet with appropriate government agencies, including the Tourism Bureau, to discuss the integration of resources for a program which aims at attracting foreigners to certain communities for long-term stays.

According to COA officials, Taiwan has the potential to develop a "long-stay" program. The program is now only in its early stages, they said, adding that more effort is required to improve living conditions, plan leisure activities in communities, as well as arranging a more convenient and efficient visa service and medical care system.

The officials said the government has to make good preparations to lay a solid basis for the program before marketing it, saying that the future priority will be what they described as "natural protection" as well as nurturing Japanese-speaking volunteers.

The COA started to collect information concerning "long-stay" programs of other nations two years ago, and completed a "feasibility study on creating countryside as the overseas long-stay and relaxation destination for elderly Japanese."

The COA pointed out that Malaysia and Thailand have long made the development of such programs their major polices.

Although Taiwan lags far behind in developing the program, it "obviously has the edge" over Southeast Asian countries in terms of geography, climate, produce, medical care, social order, culture, hospitality and historical affinity, the officials commented.

They further claimed that Taiwan has many places that have the potential for developing long-stay projects and said it has planned five model communities in hot spring, seaside and mountain areas, which will not run in conflict with the potential regions assessed by the Tourism Bureau.

The official made the remarks as the first arrival from Japan under the program ended on a sour note.

A elderly Japanese couple recently came to the city of Puli (埔里) in Nantou County under the pilot "long-stay" program promoted by the Tourism Bureau.

The couple planned to stay for three months on a trial basis and then to introduce their friends in Japan to the area if they found it satisfactory.

However, they left after just two weeks, complaining not only about the lack of facilities such as dehumidifiers, a clothes dryer and a plate dryer at their rented house, but also about the numerous motorcycles, pollution, noise, as well as the dog feces-strewn streets.

The claimed that they were cheated by the publicity brochure and demanded an apology. The couple left for Taipei yesterday to prepare for their departure from Taiwan.

Their criticism hurt the feelings of the people of Puli, who the officials claimed "had welcomed them with all their hearts."

Some locals refused to accept the criticism, claiming that the couple are the ones who lost out because they could not appreciate the year-round "clement weather" and natural beauty "rarely seen in other places."

But some also admitted that this shows that sanitation and the environment need improvement, that trucks carrying gravel and construction materials have indeed polluted the air, and that the stray dog problem also needs to be dealt with.