I write to raise a concern about our neglect of the indigent and the mentally challenged on our streets.
It has become common to see men, filthily-clad and hungry, sitting or sleeping on our busy sidewalks in the Half-Way-Tree/Hope Road areas.
We are a relatively poor country, but we should never consider ourselves too poor to set aside enough of our limited resources to care for the very small percentage of our population that cannot care for themselves.
There has been much focus on the proper use of our tax dollars and the need to reduce our expenditure while increasing our earnings, but God forbid that we should sacrifice the weak and helpless among us. I believe most Jamaicans would willingly pay the small amount of additional tax needed to fulfil this obligation.
Furthermore, it does no good for the psyche of our school children who walk down Hope Road to Half-Way-Tree daily, to see so
many fellow Jamaicans living in conditions unfit for animals. In theend, this must affect negatively their own sense of self-worth.
Are there not institutions responsible for taking such persons off the streets and providing them with care on the nation's behalf?
What about Bellevue and poor relief organisations? Thank God for Missionaries of the Poor, Food for the Poor, Mustard Seed and others who have set out to provide succour to the most helpless, but this is really a national responsibility.
There are other countries, some larger and more resourceful than ours, which have lived with a culture of tolerance for human degradation on their streets. Let us not accept this.
Let us provide our young people with better images of our respect for our own humanity.
We have come a far way in our care and concern for the natural environment. Let us not neglect the social environment.
Alfrico Adams
aladams@cwjamaica.com
Treat our indigent, mentally challenged better
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It has become common to see men, filthily-clad and hungry, sitting or sleeping on our busy sidewalks in the Half-Way-Tree/Hope Road areas.
We are a relatively poor country, but we should never consider ourselves too poor to set aside enough of our limited resources to care for the very small percentage of our population that cannot care for themselves.
There has been much focus on the proper use of our tax dollars and the need to reduce our expenditure while increasing our earnings, but God forbid that we should sacrifice the weak and helpless among us. I believe most Jamaicans would willingly pay the small amount of additional tax needed to fulfil this obligation.
Furthermore, it does no good for the psyche of our school children who walk down Hope Road to Half-Way-Tree daily, to see so
many fellow Jamaicans living in conditions unfit for animals. In theend, this must affect negatively their own sense of self-worth.
Are there not institutions responsible for taking such persons off the streets and providing them with care on the nation's behalf?
What about Bellevue and poor relief organisations? Thank God for Missionaries of the Poor, Food for the Poor, Mustard Seed and others who have set out to provide succour to the most helpless, but this is really a national responsibility.
There are other countries, some larger and more resourceful than ours, which have lived with a culture of tolerance for human degradation on their streets. Let us not accept this.
Let us provide our young people with better images of our respect for our own humanity.
We have come a far way in our care and concern for the natural environment. Let us not neglect the social environment.
Alfrico Adams
aladams@cwjamaica.com
Treat our indigent, mentally challenged better
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