Dear Editor,

Like many Jamaicans, I was appalled to read about the condition of the Golden Age Home in Vineyard Town. The reported condition and treatment at the facility conjure up nightmarish memories of the over 150 elderly and indigent women who perished in the fateful fire in 1980. Also, the May 2009 Armadale tragedy which took the lives of seven young women is still fresh in my mind.

Not to be forgotten either is the condition and treatment of the mentally ill in our prisons made public by Dr Raymouth Notice, a former prison doctor. These incidents and the untold horrors in our prisons, golden-age homes, infirmaries, children’s homes, juvenile correctional facilities and even public hospitals point to the inconvenient truth that there is not a culture of care in such state facilities. This is paradoxical because the average Jamaican is caring and sensitive to the plight of the less fortunate. In fact, much of our economy is established on a culture of hospitality, albeit to foreigners.

We must move at once to correct the situation at such facilities throughout the island to prevent another Eventide or Armadale. In this regard I offer the following suggestions:

(1) Staff the institutions with people with the requisite temperament and desire to offer care.

(2) Set up a Board of Inspectors for each facility to conduct regular observation and unannounced inspection.

(3) Establish partnership with companies, churches, NGOs, and community-based organisations to assist in the upkeep of each facility and to provide social support.

(4) Institute a toll-free hotline number so that members of the public can register complaints and concerns.

(5) Employ the requisite professionals such as social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists.

(6) Address issues of salary and conditions of work.

Notwithstanding these suggestions, the fundamental solution to improving the conditions in these facilities is a more active and sensitive citizenry and communities which will take a greater interest to ensure that the inmates in the facilities are properly cared for. Even more important, families need to do more to partner with the institutions to ensure their loved ones are properly looked after. The injunction of Jesus in the Gospels is a timely reminder for all of us:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me …I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew25:35-40)

Orville Plummer

oaplummer@yahoo.com