Names of Vulnerable Senior Citizens to be Registered

The names of vulnerable senior citizens are to be compiled and registered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
State Minister in the Ministry, Andrew Gallimore, said the plan is to assist those senior citizens who are living without the support of relatives and are unable to take care of themselves.
He was speaking on (December 19), at the St. Thomas Senior Citizens Thanksgiving and Cultural Day, held at the Anglican Church Hall in Morant Bay.
The State Minister called on members of senior citizen clubs islandwide to report to the Ministry those persons who are experiencing “extreme hardship.”
“Allow us to go and interview them to see what their living conditions are, to be able to know what government assistance, if any, they are getting and to know if they should be on the PATH programme,” he said.
Mr. Gallimore said the Ministry should not be learning about the poor living conditions of seniors when aired on the television. “We must be a caring and loving society that takes care of our elderly,” he added.
He pointed out that the Ministry, along with the National Council for Senior Citizens, would be implementing programmes to allow seniors to play an active role in the building of the country.
“Those of you who are retired, we are going to call on many of you to come and share what you know with the younger ones, to give some guidance to help us to continue to build this country,” he said.
On the matter of the non-receipt of pension, Mr. Gallimore said that this issue was receiving his attention and several meetings have been held with Ministry officials to speed up the process.
“We are looking at modifying the computer systems that are in place, looking at how the record-keeping can be done in a more efficient and effective manner, and looking at how we can engage persons and get them to apply even before they are ready to collect their pension, so that when that day comes there will be no hold up,” he said.