APNU+AFC MP Natasha Singh-Lewis yesterday upbraided the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security for allowing the Palms Geriatric Home to deteriorate.
The shadow minister of social services told the 75th sitting of the National Assembly that the Palms are beset by persistent complaints over the substandard conditions the nation’s senior citizens face.
Singh-Lewis during her budget debate presentation was adamant that the touted $1.146 trillion fiscal plan by the government should address the “unaddressed” woes of senior citizens at the geriatric facility.
“We need to restore and upgrade this historic facility to the standard expected of a country with our tremendous resources”.
The shadow social services minister deemed it uncaring of the government to triple its national budget, while the quality of service at the Palms is deteriorating.
“Sir I had a meeting with some persons who are interested in the welfare of the people in the Palms and they complained bitterly about the state of affairs of our elderly being accommodated at that institution”, the Opposition Parliamentarian lamented.
She continued “Sir the mismanagement is beyond what the staff or the elderly can tolerate… Sir, I was told that the Ministry owes the caterer for the supply of bread a few million dollars and so the Palms was cut off of the supply of bread for quite a while now and so the staff are asked to double down under extremely uncomfortable circumstances and cook bakes and other things for the elders in the home”.
However, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud in response to this said that a significant part of this year’s budget revolves around senior citizens, to which the government has allocated $172 million for the construction of a new senior citizen’s home.
“Mr Speaker, I am glad that the APNU+AFC MP spoke about the Palms home built for the elderly in the 1800s, but I am pleased to announce that this PPP/C government has allotted $172 million for a spanking new senior citizen’s home because we are concerned about the wellbeing of senior citizens across the country”, she remarked.
Minister Persaud said that the new facility for the elderly will be situated at Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD), once constructed.
However according to Singh-Lewis the PPP/C government does not have the best interest of the elderly at heart since many Afro-Guyanese pensioners did not receive the one-off $25,000 cash grant in Region 3.
She told the 75th sitting of the National Assembly that the pensioners said that they were told that the monies were sent back to the head office.
“Sir that is cruelty, mismanagement and incompetence and I don’t want to believe that the Minister knows about this and did not correct the situation”.
She lamented that in these times, pensioners still join long lines to receive their monthly pensions.
According to her, this is unacceptable and the government must devise innovative ways to abate this as it’s disrespectful for senior citizens to stand in lengthy lines just to collect their monthly pension.
She remarked, “Mr Speaker, the seats for pensioners should be much more
comfortable. We need to change those wood benches”.
But Persaud reminded the opposition member that while her government is working to revamp the Palms Geriatric Home, its attention is being directed to building the state-of-the-art facility at Enmore.
However, the shadow minister of social services rapped the government for the $3,000 increase in old age pension, which she deemed paltry due to the high cost of living.
According to her, the 2024 budget was presented with much fanfare, but yet it leaves Guyanese questioning whether the government truly comprehends the urgent needs of the people.
“Mr Speaker, while the promised increases are welcomed, the government fell short of meeting the soaring expectations of the populace (which is grappling) with the escalating cost-of-living and Sir our pensioners were granted a $3,000 increase which works out approximately to 100 dollars per day but Sir I listened to Gordon Moseley on Wednesday saying that a mint is now 20 dollars so this increase for pensioners is equivalent to 5 mints per day”.
Persaud, however, informed the house that pensioners under the PPP/C government benefitted from 75 per cent of their pension, which is much more than what the former David Granger administration did in five years.
She said, “The pensioners, under the tenure of the PPP/C, benefitted from a 75% increase on their pension, and that is much more than what was given in five years under the APNU+AFC government”.
“Pensioners not only benefit from an increase, in pension but they also have new mechanisms in which they can receive pensions”.
The Minister was referring to the new method of receiving old age pension through GTT’s Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) application.
Homelessness
Singh also raised concerns over the government’s budgetary allocations of $800 million to construct and upgrade facilities across the countrywide, but said that no provisions were made to address the issue of homelessness.
“In a country with, adjusting for prices, the tenth-highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the world, homelessness is unacceptable”
She charged the government to adopt a zero- homelessness policy and focus on building enough shelters and homes to properly combat the escalating situation of homelessness locally.
The Member of Parliament also highlighted that many persons who are faced with societal issues such as drug and alcohol abuse are among the destitute seen daily in the city.
Notably, persons who are faced with mental health illnesses are also seen in the streets of Georgetown and further afield.
“Sir we need health and counselling programmes to help those who are too often beset by drug abuse and related health problems”, Singh-Lewis stated.
The shadow minister of social services also called on the government to treat matters such as domestic and gender-based violence with urgency as there were many instances where cases were reported but received no attention nor immediate intervention.
Persons living with disabilities were another area of focus that Singh-Lewis urged Minister Persaud to look at.
But the subject minister posited that the opposition member was oblivious to what her ministry was doing.
She alluded to the $73 million Learning Lab for persons with disabilities at Unity, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
Persaud underscored that persons with disabilities attending the Learning Lab will be trained in areas of garment construction, video and graphic design, videography, social media marketing and others.
Additionally, the ministry has been collaborating with several agencies to compile a digital database that so far encompasses some 5,000 disabled persons. These persons will now benefit from direct support through health care, and education and by extension understand the needs of their caregivers and family members.
On this note, she chided the shadow minister for misleading the national assembly.
Persaud revealed that the Sophia children’s facility will be revamped this year and a “model” residential facility for children with disabilities will be constructed.
“The work that we do speaks for itself, I understand the dilemma of the opposition because they have to find things to say about this budget and that is the purpose of the opposition to criticize the government but their unmerited and vitriolic statements, prove to me that they have nothing substantial to say”.
The Minister said that her ministry is working towards addressing key issues like domestic violence, trafficking in persons and destitution.
She also announced that the government will be allocating a sum of $63 million for the construction of a juvenile justice processing centre.
“Young people may come into conflict with the law and we want to give them a second chance, we want to make sure they are dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Act and that Act provides for us to deal with these young people very differently.
“The juvenile justice processing centre will be built for $63 million in Region Four catering to the needs of our juveniles,” the Minister told the National Assembly.
She added that 100 ex-prisoners and their families will also benefit from this through the ministry’s budgetary allocations.
