Minister Humphrey Wants Seniors To Be Safe & Healthy

Senior citizens have been reminded by the new Minister with responsibility for Crime Prevention, Kirk Humphrey, to do their best to be safe.

The reminder came yesterday as Mr. Humphrey, in his portfolio as Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, outlined some aspects of the National Senior Games 2025, during its launch, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).

He said: “Now that I have the crime portfolio, I guess it is even more fitting to remind Barbadians, especially, senior Barbadians, to be safe, to be mindful of their environment when they are walking to and fro. I think I will also encourage, as I did [in] Parliament, for Barbados to become a little bit better lit at night, so that women particularly feel safe as they walk to and fro. You can’t be encouraging people to walk in darkness…

“And, of course as you get older, you are a little bit more vulnerable. …To me, that is the most important thing – make sure that people can leave home to exercise in a safe way; go home in a safe way; the country is lit, the communities are lit.”

The Minister also urged seniors across the island to commit to a healthy lifestyle. He said: “I also want to encourage every Barbadian to take care of their health because it is easy to say: ‘Go and exercise!’ but if you have never exercised your entire life, I supposed it’s just a little bit harder.

“And, therefore this is a lifelong thing and those of you, who are at the age which is still considered ‘relatively young’, use this opportunity to exercise and to engage in healthy behaviours and so on. We know we have an ageing population…. There is no doubt about that. We know that we are very close to a super age population.”

The Minister also told those gathered at the LESC that his Ministry had just received the draft of the Elderly Bill and it would soon be laid in Parliament, before the end of March. Among the issues he noted it would address are: The Protection of Elderly Persons, The Empowerment of Senior Persons and The Rights of Senior Persons. (PR/GIS)