Palms to get $6M for repairs
Residents getting adequate food and shelter, says Shadick
By Edlyn Benfield
Stabroek News
June 17, 2003
The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security will spend $6M on repairs to the Palms this year and has already disbursed $8M this year on food for the 281 residents.
This disclosure was made by Minister Bibi Shadick at a press conference held yesterday to address the controversy over the old age home. Nurses and other workers have been involved in industrial action for the past two weeks over what they say are poor working conditions.
Tenders for repair works to be carried out on Wards 6, 7 and 8 have already been advertised in the press. Shadick said that earlier this year, some minor renovations were done on all four buildings while the roof and other sections of the storehouse were also restored.
“The ministry has several responsibilities. For instance, (the remaining $2M) will be used for repair works at the Mahaica hospital and even the central ministry,” the minister stated. She pointed out that the amount of money allocated for expenditure on the Palms was a clear indication that her ministry was not indifferent to the institution’s needs.
“Wooden buildings always need a lot of maintenance, things will go wrong from time to time but arrangements can be made to fix these problems if the ministry is properly notified.”
Responding to media reports about the poor food for the residents and the stench in certain buildings, Shadick noted that $500,000 per month was being spent on janitorial and cleaning items, totalling $2.5M for the first five months of this year. She said in the same period $8M was paid for food including fresh and salted fish, totalling 3000 lbs, beef (800 lbs), chicken (1000 lbs) and 6000 eggs among other items.
“So, for there to be complaints about lumpy food and spoilt fish (and so on), something is certainly very wrong.” She told reporters that the Cabinet had granted approval for the consideration of privatisation of the kitchen but such a move could not happen until early next year.
The minister suggested that the “stench” could have resulted from the accumulation of stagnant water due to flooding or “improper cleaning.”
She said the flooding was the responsibility of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and after a visit to the site by some of its officials last year, the ministry was informed that the drains just outside the compound would have to be desilted. She said the M&CC was expected to start work on the Hadfield Street drains in order to reduce the backup at the Palms.
Shadick said she was concerned about the industrial action, saying “the situation appears to be escalating.” She extended an open apology to nurses who were offended by certain remarks made to the Stabroek News by Permanent Secretary, Mitradevi Ali.
“I am publicly issuing an unqualified apology to any nurse who takes an objection to anything the Permanent Secretary is alleged to have said,” Shadick stated.
She referred to certain statements made by the nurses subsequent to the publication of the article in Stabroek News as “unsettling” and that these had come as a surprise to the ministry as none of these things had been reported.
“We have received reports that sometimes food is stolen from the storehouse and last week, two staff members were found with stolen items - which they have since returned - in their bags after security carried out a search,” the minister revealed. Shadick said an investigation has been launched.
The media was told that out of a staff comprising approximately 90 persons, only 32 signed a memo agreeing to their bags being searched by the security personnel on leaving the compound. Further, a notice informing staff members of this policy was posted on the guard hut at the compound’s entrance but it was torn down shortly afterward. Additionally, several staffers have taken objection to being searched and the security personnel are even assaulted by the nurses and other workers on occasion, Shadick said.
As for nurses having to fetch water up three flights of stairs, Shadick said this due to the disappearance of “a recently purchased, brand new and very expensive” water pump which was used to pressure water to each of the floors. The minister said it was not until inquiries were made after reading reports on the water situation that the ministry learnt of the missing pump.
According to Shadick, the wards have 282 mattresses for its 281 residents with 39 in stock, each resident has a bed while ten others are in stock. Each resident has four bed sheets and there are 138 in stock, 320 yards of sheeting material is available and 71 pillows were donated to the institution with ten still in stock. Shadick said the ministry had also purchased a washing machine and dryer, a stove, a sewing machine and a microwave.
It was acknowledged that the institution was understaffed with 81 nurses, but “not so badly that only one nurse is available to more than 40 residents at a time.” She noted too that administrative changes might be necessary to ensure that the institution was run smoothly. She said attempts were being made to recruit senior supervisory staff so that `accountability and efficiency’ could improve.
She conceded that the uniform allowances amounting to $1.625M, had not yet been paid but that releases were being prepared to do so by the end of the week.
“I want to stress very clearly that the Palms is not a prison (nor) is it a hospital,” Shadick stated. She said too many Guyanese abdicate their responsibility to their elderly parents or relatives, especially if they become ill. She said some of the Palms’ residents were there because they were abandoned by family members. Some of these persons, Shadick said, were mentally ill and this was not the responsibility of the Palms.
It was also disclosed that residents of the institution should not receive Old Age Pension but some of them did and relatives sometimes visited the Palms and collected the money.
