Despite overcast skies and occasional showers, hundreds of people turned up to show their support for an agricultural event sponsored by the Taipei City Government to help areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot last August.
The activity, held in front of Taipei City Hall, featured more than 150 stalls manned by farmers, cooks and craftsmen from Nantou, Chiayi and Kaaohsiung Counties — many of them from Aboriginal villages.
The organizers said the show was part of government efforts to recreate local economies.
“It is important that we not only rebuild homes and roads [in these villages], but our entire way of life,” Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Sun Ta-chuan (孫大川) said. “We will need everyone's continuous support.”
Sun said that while reconstruction efforts were on track, other key issues, including the economic sustainability of Aboriginal villages, were lagging.
Speaking at the same event, representatives from the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council acknowledged that rebuilding the economy in the affected areas was critical to restoring their way of life.
Aboriginal villages comprise nearly 70 percent of the areas affected by the typhoon and its floodwaters, government data showed, with agricultural and equipment losses estimated at NT$16.4 billion (US$513 million).
Organizers said that they hoped the two-day event, which ends today, would increase sales and exposure for agricultural products from these areas.
However, some vendors said that despite the presence of Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday afternoon, attendance was lackluster and business was slow.
Vendors from Linbian Township (林邊), Pingtung County, which was heavily flooded following the typhoon, said organizers failed to promote the event hard enough and that customer traffice was “disappointing.”
“I don't think that they did a good job organizing the event. There haven't been a lot of people here today, but we are hoping things will pick up on Sunday,” said Yang Yi-ting (楊貽婷), who sells wax apples.
However, Aboriginal representatives from Pingtung-based Hong Syuan Winery praised the organizers for hosting the event and said that the lower-than-expected attendance “was probably due to the dismal weather.”
“It has been an excellent event, [the organizers] gave us a good opportunity to showcase our goods,” a company representative said. “It gives me a good feeling that people are out there supporting us.”
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