Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on Thursday urged the Ministry of Agriculture to ease the limit on financial status eligibility for elderly farmer welfare allowance, in light of increased consumer and property prices.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) told a news conference that although the welfare allowance for elderly farmers has been raised, its criteria for applicants’ financial status has not been revised for 14 years.
The Provisional Act Governing the Welfare Allowance for Elderly Farmers (老農津貼暫行條例) stipulates that the allowance amount should be adjusted once every four years, and it was increased to NT$8,110 last year from NT$7,000 in 2012, when the scheme was implemented, Lin said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Over the same period, the consumer price index climbed to 108.82 from 92.09, up by 18 percent, while the average land value nationwide rose by more than 70 percent to NT$36.29 million (US$1.21 million) from NT$20.5 million per hectare, he said.
Cost of living and real-estate value are the two factors relevant to the financial status eligibility for the allowance, Lin said, adding that many applicants are ruled out due to soaring consumer and property prices.
Lawmakers have proposed different versions of eligibility relaxation measures, such as adjusting criteria that would make them ineligible for the welfare allowance, including raising the cutoff for individual taxable income from all sources other than agriculture from NT$500,000 to NT$600,000, and for individual-owned property value from NT$5 million to NT$8 million, he said.
The Executive Yuan should integrate the different proposals and put forward its own plan as soon as possible, Lin said.
DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said that he received complaints from many agricultural workers about being disqualified from the allowance scheme due to the increased property prices.
The Ministry of Agriculture should examine how many agricultural workers have been disqualified and evaluate their losses, he said.
Kuo also suggested using the consumer price index for elderly households when assessing the applicants, as well as revising the eligibility requirements as frequently as adjusting the allowance, he added.
The proposal would be sent to the Executive Yuan for review, along with eight social welfare subsidies, Kuo cited the legislature’s Economics Committee as saying.
He added that it should be addressed separately, given that the allowance is offered as agricultural workers’ pensions instead of subsidies for disadvantaged groups.
Department of Farmers’ Service senior engineer Wang Tung-liang (王東良) said that the ministry in December 2023 submitted an integrated proposal to the Executive Yuan.
However, the Executive Yuan considered the allowance as related to social welfare subsidies and decided to explore the schemes through more interagency meetings, he said.
DPP legislators Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) on May 16 proposed amendments to the act, aimed at relaxing the allowance’s criteria of individual-owned property value from NT$5 million to NT$8 million, and personal housing value from NT$4 million to NT$6.4 million.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS