MINISTER of Labour and Social Security Karl Samuda said attention to the care of the ageing population is paramount and that there would be legislation soon to treat with such.

This comes as he underscored the need for laws to prevent a recurrence of what transpired at the Pleasant Care Nursing Home in March.

“It is on the drawing board. In fact, it is part of the presentation I made in the House [Wednesday]. The care of the elderly is now becoming a serious agenda item in terms of legislation that will deal with that. No question, the care of the older population is very essential and something that has to be attended to,” Samuda told the Jamaica Observer last Thursday.

“It is of great concern to us and we will be taking measures to address some of the outstanding issues relating to care for the elderly,” he stated further.

The privately run Pleasant Care Nursing Home in West Bay, Portmore, St Catherine, was cleared on Saturday, March 11, leaving 20 elders on the street without shelter. While relatives of some of the elderly were able to pick them up, it was not until about 9:30 pm that the others were placed back inside the house by neighbours who had intervened.

The facility was in operation for about 25 years, and the Sunday Observer learnt that the owner of the house had presented a court order to evacuate the premises last year.

A woman named Sonia, who oversaw the seniors at the home, said they have not been able to find a new house as yet, and as a result were not able to relocate the seniors.

Days later, Sonia confirmed that the five remaining seniors were moved from the location to a temporary facility.

But the Sunday Observer now understands that all the seniors have since been picked up by their families, and Pleasant Care Nursing Home is no longer in operation.

Jean Lowrie-Chin, founder and executive chairman of the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP), said the words of Samuda on potential legislation were encouraging.

“I remember he did mention legislation. We at the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons have been appealing, meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, sharing info on similar legislation in other Commonwealth countries. We are therefore happy to hear that this is on the minister’s radar,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Audrey Deer-Williams, the chief technical director with responsibility for the Social Security Division of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, added that is is something the ministry is committed to.

“We have been doing the research and looking at best practices, looking at what exists in other jurisdictions to inform how we move forward, and we are looking at legislation outside the Caribbean region,” she said.

Currently, under the mandate of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the National Policy for Senior Citizens seeks to enhance the quality of life of senior citizens, with one of its goals being that Jamaica will have improved social protection coverage for senior citizens by 2030.

The policy provides a framework for establishing Government commitments and priorities in effecting enabling environments, and for operationalising the tenets and principles embodied in international and regional instruments regarding the elderly, to which Jamaica is a party, including the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, and the Regional Strategy for Implementation.

The Madrid Plan is a comprehensive action plan for governments and civil society, amongst other groups, for building a society for all ages. It makes recommendations on core issues which can improve older people’s lives. One of the recommendations focuses on supportive environments.

Meanwhile, Carla Gullotta, executive director of Stand up for Jamaica, argued that there should be more preventative measures in replace to avoid a repeat of the Pleasant Care Nursing Home situation.

“We always take some stand after the situations are unfortunate and affect the most vulnerable. We should not wait for an extreme emergency, then try to patch it up. I think if the ministry is very serious, there should be a prevention programme,” Gullotta told the Sunday Observer, adding that elders are ignored and don’t have any spaces to exist.

“They don’t have any places where they can gather together,” she said.