‘A Govament work mi mash up on’
POINT, Hanover
Eighty-two-year-old National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensioner Aaron McFarlane of Point Settlement in this parish is calling on the Government for a speedy increase to the monthly remittance to NIS pensioners.
He claimed that while he was employed in the public sector in 1975 he suffered an injury from which he has not fully recovered.
“I would like the Government to increase it [the pension] or give me something else on the side fi live, because a fi dem [Government] work mi mash up on,” pleaded McFarlane.
“Right now, mi a struggle. From mi born mi never hungry and it look like mi about fi hungry yah now, because mi have the food but mi cah eat it. Mi nuh want it,” expressed the senior citizen who is in need of urgent dental attention.
Except for the monthly NIS pension of $7,434, McFarlane is not the beneficiary of any other form of State benefit.
“Fi one month you gain $7,400. One whole a month in a dis time! Every week kerosene oil raise and a it mi a depend on, enuh. Mi a wonder, ‘Why dem do it like that?’ “ McFarlane questioned.
“Mi work inna the yard at Hope Gardens and from mi left Hope Gardens mi have been working with government straight through. Mi go a 20 North Street and join credit union and mi nuh get nutten out deh. Housing Trust, mi nuh get nutten. The little meagre one wah mi get a di pension,” stated McFarlane.
The senior citizen claims that in 1975 he was injured while on the job at a State-owned facility in Kingston after the steps to the verandah section of a building gave way. He said he fell on lumber which injured the left side of his abdomen and his scrotum. As a result of his injuries McFarlane, who says that he has been in constant pain since the accident, has not been able to hold a steady job.
He told the Jamaica Observer West that the following morning after his mishap, he learned that a good friend of his was also injured at the derelict building.
McFarlane says he is now being affected by the injuries he received on the job back then, which make it difficult for him to move around. He is currently being assisted by a great-granddaughter, Tinny, who ensures he eats, washes his clothes, and takes him to hospital.
Despite the senior citizen’s challenges, he remains undaunted and strongly believes in the local saying “Who God bless, no man curse”.
“Mi nah give up. Mi a cry, but mi nah give up,” expressed McFarlane.
One of the first jobs for McFarlane, who started to work at the age of 14, was to cut sugar cane. He later travelled with his boss to the Cockpit Country in Trelawny after which he ended up in Portland where he worked in both the private and public sectors.
McFarlane returned to his Hanover home in 1985 and lived with his brother, who later died. Since then, the senior citizen moved to the plot of land on which he was born and lived as a child.
McFarlane has two children, however, he is not sure where his daughter is, while his son has not been in touch with him since he was 15.
McFarlane was identified by the National Housing Trust’s Social Development Unit which had been conducting a survey of the area that is currently under consideration for a housing development. The aim of the team was to target seniors, pensioners, the indigent, as well as mentally and physical challenged individuals, using the various provisions of the Government, in order to create housing solutions of some sort.
People’s National Party’s councillor for the Sandy Bay Division, Andria Dehaney Grant, who is also the deputy mayor of Lucea, provided McFarlane with a food package and monetary contribution to assist with his transportation to clinic. She said she wasn’t previously aware of McFarlane’s condition but promised to keep in touch with his great-granddaughter.
“I was really moved, based on his present condition, and as the councillor I will be making an effort to make representations to ensure that he gets a better living condition and to see how best I can help him. He made mention of his illness and the assistance that he actually needs,” Dehaney Grant told the Observer West.