Government Ensuring All Infirmaries Meet World-class Standard

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, has indicated the Government’s resolve in ensuring that all Infirmaries across the country meet world-class standards.

Speaking during the opening of the St. Thomas night shelter on March 27, the Minister said that a policy position was taken by the Government to do more than just repair Infirmaries.

“Our infirmaries are over a hundred years old… . They are a legacy of our colonial past, and for decades we have seen our facilities run down to the extent that people didn’t want to go into them. A lot of them can’t be repaired any longer,” Mr. McKenzie said.

He informed that this year, the Government will be building two brand-new infirmaries, one in St. Ann and the other in Trelawny. In addition, $12 million is to be expended to carry out improvement works on the St. Thomas infirmary.

“We are looking to ensure that all our infirmaries meet world-class standards,” the Minister declared.

Another element of the continued transformation of infirmaries is the addition of therapeutic parks to some of the facilities, to enhance the mental, physical and emotional well-being of residents.

“When you go into these parks in some of the infirmaries, they have fountains with lights and the residents can go there and sit down and they can enjoy themselves,” Mr. McKenzie said.

The Minister reflected that many of the persons in infirmaries or drop-in facilities, have made contributions to the growth and development of the country.

He used the opportunity to remind Jamaicans that these facilities are “not built for persons who have families or relatives with big establishments that abandon them while they live luxury life, collecting the pension that these people sweat for”.

To this end, he said that Government will be taking the strongest actions against persons who abandon their families.