Senator asks govt to protect senior citizens, disabled

The Jamaican Senator Dr Floyd Morris, who is opposition spokesman on social security, has called on the Government of Jamaica to put in place measures to protect senior citizens and persons with disabilities along the corridors where road construction is taking place.

"Persons with disabilities and senior citizens have been experiencing serious difficulties along these corridors, and measures must be put in place to protect these individuals," claims Morris,

While stressing Morris said that the number of these individuals has been complaining about the problems they are experiencing in getting around, and this is very problematic for these vulnerable individuals.

"You can determine the level of civility of a society by the care and support it offers to senior citizens and persons with disabilities, and what is being experienced by them cannot be seen as civil by any stretch of the imagination," he said.

Morris urged the Government to ensure that special workers are assigned to these areas where construction is taking place to look out for and to give support to these senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

He wants the authorities to ensure that during this period of road construction, sidewalks are constructed to ensure that these vulnerable groups can move about their lawful business without having to find their way around obstacles.

The opposition senator also urged the Government to ensure that all the Jamaica Public Service Company's light poles are removed from the middle of the walkways and placed further away from the commuting public so that persons with disabilities, especially blind persons and wheelchair users, can move about their business freely.

Morris, who began losing his sight during high school and lost it fully six years later, became the first blind member of the Senate in Jamaica when he was appointed in 1998. Morris is 11th Senate of Jamaica