During Senior Citizens Month, the Virgin Islands should ask itself if this territory is a friendly place for the elderly.
In some respects, we fear, the answer is no.
Today, VI seniors often don’t get the respect due to the generations whose struggles laid the foundation for the territory’s current prosperity.
This month’s celebrations will help remind the community to do better, and we hope everyone will take part.
Wise policy is also needed, of course. Fortunately, some important measures are already in place. Since the first senior citizens programme was established in 1989, it has been expanded to include seven branches throughout the territory that currently serve nearly 200 seniors, according to government.
This year, a new Alzheimer’s programme was established, and government is at work on a healthy aging policy, which we hope will be completed soon.
However, the most important ongoing effort — the new senior home in Spooners Estate — has been beset with the usual avoidable challenges that plague most major capital projects in this territory. Considering the poor condition of the Adina Donovan Home for the Elderly, the new facility is urgently needed, and the unnecessary delays under at least three successive governments are disappointing.
Now, land has been cleared, and government recently has announced plans to surmount financial constraints by carrying out the $14-17 million project in phases. Though not ideal, this strategy seems reasonable given the economic climate, and we hope to see significant progress this year.
The current government also made various promises for the elderly upon taking office in November 2011:
• establishing a geriatric ward in the hospital;
• developing a senior citizens bureau;
• recording oral histories;
• creating new opportunities to utilise the skills of the elderly; and
• appointing a director of senior citizens programmes to coordinate activities across the territory.
We would like to see all of these ideas come to fruition before the next general election.
But government should not be expected to shoulder all the responsibility for the elderly. The entire community must lend a hand.
This month, then, all residents should commit to working year-round to ensure that Virgin Islands seniors get the support and respect they deserve.
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