Government has approved financing for the construction of a $4 million daycare and respite facility for the elderly to be located at Sterling in St Philip.
This was revealed on Tuesday by Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey as he addressed a resolution in the House of Assembly on the 2023-2024 National Policy on Ageing.
Humphrey told the Chamber: “The Cabinet approved the build-out at Sterling, a facility to offer day care and respite care for persons who are ageing in this country . . . . to give the older persons [not only] an opportunity for day care, but to give their caregivers an opportunity for respite. It is costing the government over $4 million, and we have committed to doing it.”
While he did not provide any further details of the project, including when construction was expected to start, he emphasised the fact that the island faced a very serious problem of a growing elderly population while experiencing a declining birth rate.
Describing the Mottley administration as a “government that is working”, Humphrey lambasted people who used ageing as a talking point but did not care about what was happening to the many elderly people in Barbados.
He reminded fellow MPs that in a few years, many of them will be in the elderly category.
“In 20 years, certainly almost all of us [will be there]. We could deny it, we could push our heads down in the sand, but at the end of the day, this thing is coming, whether we accept it or not. And I say to Barbados that we all have to be able to pull our weight,” the minister stated.
According to the St Michael South MP, there needs to be a change in the attitude of all Barbadians in their treatment of older citizens.
“If we do not see what is happening as everybody’s responsibility, there is not going to be any place where anybody can hide from the repercussions of being delinquent in our efforts . . . to help those people who are in need,” Humphrey admonished.
(IMC1)
