Renovating an abandoned factory into a daycare facility for senior citizens in Chiayi County’s Jhongpu Township (中埔) will greatly benefit the township’s 224 elderly people, Mayor Lee Pi-ching (李碧菁) said on Wednesday.
Lee made the remarks at the facility’s opening ceremony, which was attended by Chiayi County Commissioner Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁), Sister Chen Mei-hui (陳美惠), chairwoman of the Sisters of Our Lady of China Catholic Charity Social Welfare Foundation, and Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元).
Chiayi’s aging population — the highest in the nation — accounts for NT$1 billion (US$32.4 million), or 10 percent, of long-term healthcare funding in Taiwan, Hsueh said.
Photo: Wang Shan-yen, Taipei Times
Activities at the daycare center, a repurposed tobacco leaf inspection plant, would help jog childhood and adolescent memories, and prove beneficial for both the body and mind, he said.
Along with a recreational activity center, the Jhongpu daycare center, which is the county’s 10th, has a cafeteria that is open to unregistered elderly people and disadvantaged families, Weng said.
Six additional centers are planned to meet the goal of one center per township, Weng added.
The plant, which was originally managed by the National Property Administration, was transferred to the township three years ago, Lee said.
The township originally planned to use the former plant as a recreational activity center, but the foundation proposed that the space be used as a long-term healthcare center, she said.
The foundation shouldered the NT$7.5 million cost for the renovation, which took care to preserve the structure’s original Taiwanese cypress beams, Lee said.
Space was reserved behind the center for recreational activities, while the on-site cafeteria, funded by donations from Uni-President Group’s 7-Eleven stores, feeds local elderly people and the financially disadvantaged, Chen said.
The financially destitute, low-income people and those with low-to-middle incomes receive free meals, while middle-income people are charged NT$25 per meal, Chen added.
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