GOVERNMENT Senator Don Wehby has suggested starting a GoFundMe account to assist the most vulnerable elderly Jamaicans.

“I think everybody will agree that when we look at what we refer to as old people’s homes, and the capacity to accommodate the old people, some of them are in hospitals because their families left them [behind] and there is nowhere for us to put them. I am saying that more needs to be done,” Senator Wehby said as he participated in the debate on a motion seeking increased support for the elderly population.

“I am giving a personal commitment to improve these homes in terms of nutrition and infrastructural development,” Senator Wehby said, noting that GraceKennedy Limited, of which he is CEO, has already been engaged in supporting the elderly community.

“But, I want to go further than that. The world of fund-raising, with all that technology around, has changed. It has become borderless, boundary less. Why don’t we start a GoFundMe account or system where all Jamaicans, not only those in Jamaica but all over the world, can contribute towards improving the infrastructure of the old people’s homes in Jamaica,” he urged the Senate on Friday.

“That’s not high science,” he added. “Can you imagine if every Jamaican, or most Jamaicans, even give a small amount of US$10 in the infrastructure development of the homes of these old people? How that would make a big difference and make the elderly so much happier and comfortable?

“So, I am calling, why don’t we set up a GoFundMe account for infrastructural development for the homes of these old people,” he proposed. “I don’t think that’s high science and if everybody gives US$10, all over the world, it’s going to add up to a lot,” he reasoned.

The Senate was continuing the debate on a private member’s motion which was tabled by Opposition spokesman on disability issues, Senator Floyd Morris who is seeking to establish specific legislation in the form of an Elderly Care and Protection Act, to protect senior citizens.

Senator Morris opened the debate on Friday, August 13, along with Government Senator Dr Saphire Longmore.

But, after an unusually discreet start last week, the debate picked up with energised momentum Friday and involved four speakers – Senator Wehby and fellow Government Senator Kavan Gayle; and Opposition members Damion Crawford and Sophia Frazer-Binns.