MoBay mayor eyes caveats on infirmary residents’ property

WESTERN BUREAU:

The St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) is now in discussions with its lawyers on the legality of placing caveats on the titles of properties owned by persons housed at the parish’s infirmary and being cared for by the State.

“If it is that there is no way around it, then we will be sending a resolution to Parliament or the relevant ministry for them to take up the conversation from that level if it requires a law change,” said Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon.

“But if it does not require a law change and there is a loophole that we can use, then we are going to activate it.”

Many persons with tangible assets have been abandoned at the infirmary over several years and are being cared for with state funds.

Vernon is hoping that if caveats can be placed against their properties, it could create scope for the recovery of some of the public funds used to care for them.

“If family members want to come and use the property later on to lease, to rent, or to sell, they will have to pay up the money that we have spent caring for their family member before they can have access to that title,” said Vernon.

The mayor’s proposal comes as the corporation grapples with a growing number of social cases and limited space at the St James Infirmary. Eighty individuals are currently waiting for placement at the infirmary, which has run out of space.

“We have a full infirmary based on our capacity restrictions. And even when we have repaired our infirmary to pre-Hurricane Melissa capacity, we will still have a full infirmary,” said Vernon.

“We have situations where persons bring their family members to hospitals and then leave them there.”

According to the mayor, the poor relief system was designed to assist people who are genuinely destitute and have no one to turn to, not persons with known families.

ASSISTING THE DESTITUTE

“Based on the Poor Relief Act, we are supposed to take on a social case that the person is only destitute, meaning that they have no one to turn to, but we have been bombarded with persons coming in asking for us to take on these cases (persons with families),” he said.

Vernon said he was particularly troubled by what he described as an emerging expectation that the State should assume responsibility for people who still have family members. He recalled speaking with a man who wanted someone admitted to the infirmary and said the conversation highlighted the problem.

“He was suggesting that it is state first and family second, and that’s not the case. It should be family first and state second,” he said, noting that although the municipality can aid people who genuinely have nowhere else to go, it cannot be expected to become the default caregiver for families that refuse to shoulder their obligations.

“We can’t force a relative to take responsibility, but there is a Maintenance Act, and it says persons are supposed to treat a particular situation,” he added.

Vernon said the growing number of abandoned relatives is also contributing to the problem of people ending up on the streets of Montego Bay, particularly when hospitals cannot continue housing medically discharged patients, and the infirmary has no available space.

“The lack thereof of the care that is needed generally is resulting in a rising number of social cases, and the State can only do so much and no more,” he said, making the recovery of money spent on abandoned residents an avenue worth pursuing.

“Once we can recover the sums that we have dedicated to care for these residents, it is an investment into future cases,” he added.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com