The Barbados government is looking to enter a partnership with the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) to create communities for the elderly through the restoration of several derelict public buildings.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in the Ermie Bourne Committee Room of Parliament, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the aim was to ensure that such facilities were available within the island’s communities over the next three years. She noted that through funding from the Chinese government, this initiative will begin in St Michael.
- Advertisement -
Pointing to the Vauxhall Senior Citizens Village and the Soroptimist Village, Mottley said it was necessary to get involved with non-governmental organisations to create similar facilities where elderly persons could remain active and alert.
“We have invited BARP to look at not just opportunities for daycare facilities … but we are also saying that there are too many old primary schools and old buildings that are sitting down there derelict across the country, that with the kind of cooperation between the Barbados Youth Advanced Corps and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology and different other things, we can have partnerships to restore some of these buildings and make them available to BARP and also for the benefit of the Ministry of Wellness which is intent on putting also the exercise equipment in communities, so that elderly persons who may not be able to afford going to a gym but still need some strength training to keep your muscles going,” she said.
She added, “I’m not thinking of anything the size of Sagicor’s Estates, as that’s beyond our capacity. What we prefer is a series of smaller villages across the island, closer to the communities from which people come, and that way, we’re able to ensure that they are kept alert and active.”
Welcoming the opportunity to work with the Government on this venture, BARP president Marilyn Rice-Bowen also called for initiatives to help senior citizens “age in place”, where they can enjoy getting older around their family and communities rather than in nursing homes, including through the provision of subsidies and duty-free concessions. (JB)
