ELDERLY ACT NEEDED

 

Senior Welfare Officer (Ag.) with the National Assistance Board (NAB), James Cummins, says there is a need for the Protection of Older Persons Act.
 
He shared this view recently as he delivered opening remarks at the NAB’s Seniors Recreational Activities Programme Arts and Craft Exhibition. This was held at the Grand Salle of the Central Bank.
 
“I am saying this against the background of what happened on June 15, when we were told that there is no need for any more legislation. That all the legalisation we have is enough to protect the elderly. I say, ‘No’. I say that if we are going to meet United Nations for the rights of the elderly, there is a need for the Protection of Older Persons Act.”
 
Cummins added that “there is a need for one agency, one particular agency which is focused on addressing the ills of the elderly and therefore, there is a need for legislation to go in that direction”.
 
The acting senior welfare officer also made an appeal for one of the programmes, which was started by the NAB in 1992, to be re-established. He also shared his wish to see the offerings and the number of individuals attending the NAB’s Seniors Recreational Activities Programme increase.
 
“There was a time when over 600 persons were involved in this programme. Today, we are at the crossroads where there are 300 persons and out of those 300 persons, we still cannot find men to be involved in the programme. There must be some type of gender equality or some type of gender thrust in terms of trying to get men into the programme. I want to say too that there are a lot of challenges from other programmes [such as] Q in the Community, and other churches are establishing programmes and therefore, we cannot continue to do the same thing. We must make our programme more exciting,” he further stated. (MG)
 
 
 

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