Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is calling on persons here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines not to use this period after the passage of Hurricane Beryl as an opportunity to abandon their elderly relatives.
He made the call during parliament on Thursday July 18th, while discussing the shelter situation. Where he noted that 19 persons are currently being housed in guest houses, most of whom are elderly.
“Madame Speaker, it is with regret that I, let me just say this, there are persons at the various schools in Kingstown Government, J.P. Eustace secondary, Belmont Government, and the Calliaqua Anglican School and Calliaqua Town Hall, there are persons, many hundreds of persons there from the southern Grenadines. We have 19 persons, mainly elderly in guest houses, coordinated by the Ministry of Tourism as part of the Shelter and Arrangement for Vulnerable Persons. I want to urge families with elderly persons, please don’t use this as an opportunity just to bring your elderly parent or grandparent or elderly family member and leave them to be taken care of when it is possible for you to do so yourself. That’s a painful subject.” The Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister addressed a similar situation back in 2021, when persons who were evacuated due to the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano have abandoned their elderly parents and even grandparents in shelters that were temporarily set up for volcano evacuees.
Prime Minister Gonsalves, at that time noted that the elderly were not the only ones who were abandoned. He said that there were mothers and fathers who abandoned their children at the shelters.
