ROSE HALL, St James — EAST Central St James Member of Parliament Edmund Bartlett on Sunday launched a welfare programme for the elderly in his constituency.
Bartlett has also formed a group of young ladies in his community, named Ed’s Tulips, who has been mandated to address the needs of the senior citizens within the constituency.
“There are some old ladies and gentlemen who can’t walk and can’t leave the house, and some of them have worthless pickney who don’t give them nothing,” said Bartlett, “but the Tulips are going to go around and comb their hair and they are also going to go around and help to clean their house, and wash a little clothes here and there, and generally to be helpful to the elderly in the constituency.”
The Tulips are also tasked with ensuring that the elderly are registered on the PATH programme and that they receive their pensions.
Additionally, Bartlett announced a feeding programme for the elderly to commence in January 2015.
“The most important thing we want to do is that we want to see to it that the old people who can’t get attention, and whose children don’t look after them, that they get something to eat,” Bartlett said.
“So once a week, starting in January, they will come around with a little lunch on a Sunday, they will visit the people to find out who don’t have anything to eat and give them a little lunch so that they will have something to eat,” he said.
Bartlett announced the programmes during an address at an award ceremony called an Evening of Excellence for Senior Citizens at the John Rollins Success Primary School in Barrett Town in St James.
During the ceremony, Bartlett also presented plaques to the elderly who have served the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) over the years.
— Horace Hines
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Bartlett launches welfare programme for elderly, shut-in
