The advocacy charity for homeless people on Friday demanded to see those who steal benefits from elderly people while they live on the street charged as elder abusers.
Kemar Saffrey, the head of the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH), told journalists he was appalled by the apparently growing numbers of elderly people being abused.
He declared that if the government was serious about tackling elderly abuse, those who take advantage of their relatives and leave them on the streets ought to be hauled before the courts.
Saffrey called for an inspectorate tasked with investigating cases of elder abuse and attached to the Ministry of Elder Affairs or the National Assistance Board (NAB).
“We need to address the growing number of elderly on the streets,” he said at a news conference at the BAEH’s Spry Street headquarters. “In some cases, people are on the street getting benefits but the benefits are being stolen by the families. I thought that the legislation the minister would have brought to protect the elderly would have somewhat included the homeless. It is very broad . . . . Whether or not I’ve seen the elderly legislation, I don’t think that we’ve taken it seriously enough because I don’t see anybody before the law courts of Barbados. I don’t see anybody being hauled and being put to task because they are taking these persons’ money.”
While declaring it was not his intention to attack anyone, Saffrey said: “I [am at] the point where I don’t care if you’re offended because there’s a seriousness to this. We are the ones out here on the ground . . . and we are the persons dealing with the backlashes every single day while some sit in the office and look good. Or some decide when there’s a chance to come and look good in front of the camera, they come and speak well and feel that the situation is done. The situation [isn’t] done.”
Saffrey said it was time to get serious and crackdown on elderly abuse and a specialist should be in place to investigate such matters.
“With the elderly, people should be charged,” he said. “You got the person’s money and the person on the street and you are living off the person’s money . . . . Why aren’t they locked up? That is theft.
“I believe that the NAB should have an inspector or the Ministry of . . . Elder Affairs should be having an inspector to look into elder affairs . . . . The powers that be have the power to come and put some law in place that says after a certain age, you should not be living on the streets . . . . When I saw the Prime Minister institute the care for the elderly [programme], [there] should have [been] one for the streets, too.
“If you are counting a population, the homeless have to be considered too. Are you trying to say they are not part of the population? . . . I do not think that the elderly are inclusive of anything the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs does because you’ve got to take care of the ones on the street too.”
Noting Japanese reverence for the elderly, he said Barbados also had a growing ageing population and suggested that people after a certain age should have several benefits and be treated with the highest amount of respect and dignity.
Last year, the government pumped $252 000 into the BAEH to help the organisation transition into a 24-hour homeless shelter. Saffrey said the charity was a buffer between people experiencing hardships and getting back on their feet.
Saying that it should not be treated as an end-all facility, he said it needed more help other than money.
“Throwing money at the organisation is not the answer, the money doesn’t faze us,” said Saffrey, “It’s the technical support too, that can come. It’s the inter-agency relationship that must follow because I cannot do [psychiatric] work; I don’t have a psychiatric facility. I can’t do geriatric work; I do not have a geriatric facility.”
Barbados TODAY’s efforts to reach Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey were unsuccessful.
Saffrey told reporters that between last June and last month, there had been 84 new cases of homelessness. He added that women, many of whom were unaware they had mental issues but were subsequently diagnosed by a psychiatric nurse, were still a major concern as they were showing up at the shelter with their children.
He announced that BAEH wanted to set up satellite facilities in other towns such as Oistins and Holetown to reach more people and get a better sense of the homelessness situation outside of The City.
In an update on the BAEH headquarters as a 24-hour shelter, Saffrey said it was progressing well.
BAEH will be hosting consultation sessions with City business leaders to get an idea of some of the challenges they face with homeless people, including the harassment of workers and customers, and the defacing of property.
Regarding the charity’s I-pledge campaign which aims to raise $1 million for a new home, the BAEH leader said the drive towards that had slowed down as the agency’s work with assisting homeless people had become overwhelming.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
