Taichung seniors protest NT$50 morning swim fee by blocking garbage trucks

Eight older residents in Taichung briefly blocked garbage trucks after a swimming pool charged them NT$50 during a morning period meant to be free.

The residents had gone to the Wenshan Indoor Warm-Water Swimming Pool for an early swim. Under an arrangement approved by the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau, people aged 65 and over living in nine nearby neighborhoods were supposed to enter free of charge from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. starting Sept. 1.

But on the morning of Sept. 1, the operator continued collecting the NT$50 admission fee. The residents then went onto the road and stopped garbage trucks heading into the Wenshan waste incinerator, according to Wenshan borough chief Ho Chung-hsin.

The environmental bureau contacted those involved and found that the official document confirming the arrangement had not been delivered to the pool operator. After negotiations, the fee was refunded and the operator acknowledged the administrative error. Officials said the protest lasted only a few minutes and did not disrupt incinerator operations.

Tsai Te-i, head of Taichung’s environmental facilities unit, said the free swimming period was intended as a benefit for older residents. He said the bureau would strengthen communication with the pool operator.