Public Urged to Make Submissions to Senate Committee Crafting Proposals for Law to Protect the Elderly

The Special Select Committee of the Senate appointed to review a Private Member’s Motion on the proposal for an Elderly Care and Protection Act is urging the public to participate in the process by making submissions.

With the reality of Jamaica’s ageing population, the work of the Committee to develop proposals to create the law critically underscores the need for strengthening elderly care and protection efforts.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sherene Golding Campbell, said persons, especially the elderly, are being encouraged to express their concerns to the Committee.

“The Committee, to date, has only heard from ministries in terms of the state of affairs, but we are about to embark on hearing our public submissions. I urge citizens who have not made their voices heard, even though the deadline [has passed], it’s not too late to send in a submission, a letter to the Committee, if there is an issue you wish to raise that you have not had a chance to raise,” she said.

Senator Golding Campbell was speaking at a JIS Think Tank, today (April 9), at the agency’s Television Department, at 5-9 South Odeon Avenue in Kingston.

Persons can make their submissions in writing, addressing them to the Clerk of Parliament, 81 Duke Street, Kingston or emailing clerk@japarliament.gov.jm.

Reiterating the critical role public participation plays in the process, Senator Golding Campbell reminded Jamaicans of the main role of the Committee.

“We are not reviewing a Bill; we’re crafting proposals to create a law, so public participation is very, very important. We are all at some point going to get old and so, this process that this Special Select Committee is undertaking is one that everybody should be interested in, whether you are a child, adult, teenager or senior citizen,” she said.

Meanwhile, Senator Golding Campbell made a special appeal for senior citizens to voice their opinions and raise their concerns based on the issues they face.

“We do not have elderly people on the committee, so we want to hear from our elders, in particular. I would urge citizens who are caregivers and family members, if there is difficulty for senior citizens to access the Committee to prepare a letter, please assist them so that we can hear from them. It is their perspective that we want to truly understand in order to make the proposals that we need to make, to craft legislation to protect them,” she said.

For the general public who may not yet have a full appreciation or thorough understanding of the value of the effort, Senator Golding Campbell said how senior citizens are treated and protected reflect the “soul of a nation”.

“It is everybody’s civic duty to concern themselves with the work of this Committee, and I hope that we will have that broad participation. As Chair of the Committee, I commit to being as focused and try to do this as diligently and efficiently as we can, but we are going to be careful, ensure that we are thorough and I know I have the commitment of all my committee members in that process,” she said.

Also on the Committee are Senators Charles Sinclair, Kavan Gayle, Dr. Saphire Longmore, Professor Floyd Morris, Sophia Frazer-Binns and Gabriela Morris.

The Motion made by Senator Morris was approved by the Senate on October 25, 2024 and aims to address the growing need for protection for senior citizens in Jamaica.

The Committee held its inaugural meeting on December 18, 2024, and to date, it has heard presentations from stakeholders.