SUPERINTENDENT of Police Stephanie Lindsay has urged the elderly to be “extremely careful” as burglars are targeting senior citizens.Speaking at Monday’s Annual General Meeting of the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP) held at the Phoenix Central Complex in St Andrew, the head of the Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) expressed deep concern about increasing attacks on Jamaica’s elderly.

The superintendent also warned that there were people posing as representatives of utility companies, so it was important to check their ID cards.

She noted too that the problem of lonely seniors was compounded because many were afraid to venture out, depriving them of the social interaction that is considered important for their well-being.

According to Lindsay, identity theft is a growing problem, so she urged seniors to ensure that records of financial transactions are secured as the information on receipts can be used to commit fraud. She reminded members of CCRP that they may receive calls asking for banking and credit card information, and that no bank would be requesting this on the phone.

“No need to be polite — say ‘no’,” she urged. “In this case, to be rude is to be shrewd!”

She reminded the CCRP members to check their bank statements carefully and immediately report any strange activity, recommending that this be done in writing to have a record of these queries. The superintendent said any suspicion of fraud should be reported to the police.

Lindsay also said it was important to keep a close check on “incapacitated elderly”, as there have been incidents of abusive caregivers. She said that some people may be reluctant to speak out so friends and relatives should be very observant, checking for injuries and bedsores.

In the matter of motor vehicle accidents, the head of CCU recommended that CCRP members take a photo of the vehicle, ensuring that the car registration number is clear. They may give their name, but not their address; instead they could give the person the address of their insurance company and say they will meet them at the police station.

When out and about, she recommended that seniors: Go out with friends and family, not alone; walk purposely; walk down the middle of the sidewalk; keep purses close to the body and wallets in front pants pocket or jacket pocket; carry only cash, credit cards and ID that will be needed.

She advised, too, that if there is a hold-up, members should throw their wallet or handbag a distance away and run, screaming in the opposite direction. Under no circumstances should they resist giving up their valuables.

She suggested that seniors should: Use sturdy metal or solid wood doors and install deadbolt locks; light up entry doors and use motion detectors or floodlights; trim shrubbery around doors and windows and make sure their address is displayed for emergency purposes; give an extra key to a trusted neighbour.

She said that sometimes police have difficulty responding to calls because of lack of street signs and asked that citizens ensure that these are in place.

CCRP Board Director Vilma McDonald thanked Superintendent Lindsay for her timely and practical advice, while Executive Chairman Jean Lowrie-Chin noted that the organisation was deeply concerned about the issue of elder abuse, and that CCRP would be advocating for the passing of laws similar to those in the Child Care and Protection Act to ensure the well-being of Jamaica’s elderly.

CCRP’s membership has reportedly grown to 1,940, with 91 discount partners, since its inception in 2010. The special Major Medical Health Insurance plan offered by Sagicor has reportedly saved members millions in health costs.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/senior-cop-urges-elderly-to-be-8216-extremely-careful-8217-_100446?profile=1373

The Wray and Nephew 2017 ‘Best of the Best’ Contender Boxing series, that pits Team Jamaica against Team Canada for a share of $3 million and the title of Jamaica’s Junior Middleweight Contender, moves into its semi-final stages tonight, with the activities set to start at 8:30.

Team Jamaica’s number one seed Sakima Mullings, who opened the contest at the preliminary stage, will again do likewise entering the semi-final phase.

Mullings, a skilled competitor with some 23 fights under his girth— inclusive of 20 wins against three defeats, will face Team Canada’s undefeated Larone Whyte in tonight’s main event at the Chinese Benevolent Association(CBA) auditorium at 8:30 pm.

Though undefeated, Whyte has only three fights to his credit and is up against a fighter with a superior ring record of not only 20 more fights, but also 20 wins as well.

To the onlooker this should mean a walkover victory for Mullings, but he is not taking his competitor for granted.

“No fight is easy before it is fought. I am here for the long haul. Every man of worth believes in himself and in his ability to endure, and when the bell goes each warrior is on his own. This means that I cannot go into a fight such as this, in the Contender expecting favours.

“I am here to defend why I am here and my guess is that my opponent will endeavour to do likewise. I am looking forward to a good Contender and let us see how it turns out from here in,” Mullings said.

Mullings and Whyte both scored different victories in their opening bouts to reach the second stage of the Contender series. For his part, Mullings removed Winston “The Punisher” Matthews with a unanimous decision, while it took a close split decision to get Whyte across the line against former Contender champion Devon “Concrete” Moncrieffe.

Whyte, who at the time looked a bit ring rusty in his close decision against Moncrieffe, declared after the fight that he will return to the gym immediately following his victory, as there were a few grey areas that were short of work and needed critical attention.

Both fighters would now be fighting for one of four semi-final spots going five rounds, and the Canadian wasted little time in getting back into the gym to have his act streamlined. This could, therefore, see the undefeated rookie of three fights returning to the CBA a much- improved performer against Sakima Mullings.

One of two amateur fights will open the customary three-fight card at 8:30 pm, with the junior middleweight main event between Mullings and Whyte scheduled to rumble at approximately 9:45 pm.

This will follow half-hour or so of a live stage show that primes the audience for an entertaining main event. Which will accompanied by a review of immediate past events along with a preview of and comments from the boxers who will fight in the feature.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/mullings-whyte-kickstart-contender-semi-final-round_100432?profile=1511

With 201 senior citizens murdered between 2014 and 2016, a call has been made from the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP) for legislation that would give the elderly protection, similar to children under the Child Care and Protection Act.

Making the plea was Jean Lowrie-Chin, CCRP president, who told The Gleaner that specific amendments are needed to the law protecting the elderly, suggesting the new law be called the Elderly Protection Act.

“These most worthy persons in our society are increasingly susceptible to crime, violence and abuse, so we are looking at what could be called the Elderly Protection Act, something very similar to the Child Care and Protection Act to stop this level of abuse of our seniors,” Lowrie-Chin said.

The suggestion was made at yesterday’s annual general meeting at the group’s Phoenix Avenue offices, where members were given a breakdown of audited statements on the financial health of the organisation and the way forward.

“We have been getting lots of reports about elder abuse and because we are getting these reports, we realise that we need to strengthen laws to protect them. It’s our duty and a great responsibility,” Lowrie-Chin said.

Members of the organisation and senior attorneys Peter Mais and Ambassador Aloun Assamba will be charged with making recommendations to Shahine Robinson, minister of labour and social security.

Major Concern For Police

In the meantime, Superintendent of Police Stephanie Lindsay said she will support calls for the establishing of legislation that seeks to add volume to the current law in protecting the elderly.

She said that police data showed that crime against senior citizens, while being low in comparison to the general population, remained a major point of concern for the police.

“I support any call that protects our elderly. I will always stand in support of any legislation that seeks to protect the senior citizens in the society. I think it’s very important and something we need at this time,” Lindsay said.

In recent weeks, attacks on seniors have been a cause for concern in Jamaica, with two elderly women being murdered within a two-day period.

paul.clarke@gleanerjm.com

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20170530/retiree-group-calls-law-protect-elderly

Jamaica amateur boxing made a bold statement that it is on target for World Championship Box-Off success in another two weeks or so with a stunning but confident 3-1 win over Panama in an international friendly Pro-Am six-fight card at the Barbican Beach Complex on Saturday night.

The four-fight amateur card between the two countries was conducted over four three- rounders of three minutes duration and Panama, one of the rulers of the sport in the region, opened briskly by drawing first blood.

Johnathan Miniel wasted little time in putting away Marvin Shea, in the opening bout of two lightweight contests, with a unanimous decision.

Jamaica, however, took control of the next three bouts. They started off when Sanjay Williams levelled things with a unanimous victory decision over Leonel Gutterrez in the second lightweight match.

Janathan Hanson then impressed by outscoring Luis Hernandez to come away with another healthy, unanimous decision to take the competitive middleweight division.

In the super heavyweight division, Jamaica’s Ricardo Brown fought gallantly against Ronaldo Bennett to reward Jamaica with their third unanimous decision win, for an overall 3-1 victory to send the country’s amateur contingent off to the World Championship Box-Off in Honduras next month with anticipation.

“This is a great morale booster for the Jamaica Team going into the World Championship Box-Off in the next two weeks. To score such a commanding win against Panama, a country that leads the region in amateur boxing, is saying a lot for Jamaica’s amateur boxing, considering that we in Jamaica have to work and train while those guys in Panama live in the gym and are properly fed,” says National Coach Gilberr Vaz.

“We in Jamaica need assistance with better equipment and improved facilities that could help to improve our boxing skills. We have the material (but) what we need is help to move it forward,” he added.

— Hurbun Williams

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/jamaica-top_100229?profile=1511

A Spanish Town-based organisation that supports children with disabilities and their parents is this week calling on corporate Jamaica and the wider citizenry to overlook prejudices against people with disabilities and donate more to the community.

“People don’t generally think disabled people can contribute to society. As such, they are more willing to invest in those considered normal and where they think they will get value for their money,” Sandrea Long-White, acting managing director at Community Based Rehabilitation Jamaica (CBRJ, told the Jamaica Observer in an interview.

The organisation is a merger of 3D Projects and Rural Services for Children with Disabilities. It offers psychosocial assessment and clinical or medical assessments; training for parents, health staff and teachers; home-based intervention; parent advocacy support; public education on disability issues; support for early childhood centres; and empowerment of parents to campaign for themselves and for the rights of their children.

However, arising from the lack of adequate funds, the services which were once available to 10 parishes have now been scaled down to four — St Catherine, Manchester, St Elizabeth and St James.

Of note, CBRJ is the only agency providing that sort of intervention in the parishes it currently serves.

Making the point that discriminatory acts against children with disabilities are sharply on the decline, Long-White said, “I remember when we started with some communities, we found some of the children tied up in foul coops or left outside.”

Still, she concedes, there is much work to be done in overcoming stigma.

“Many times we get the support only when someone with a disabled child is fighting, when someone in Government has a disabled child or see the need for more to be done,” said Long-White, who has been serving in the field for over 20 years.

Long-White’s organisation receives subventions from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, but as she explains, CBRJ depends heavily on volunteers and funding from corporate entities.

She stressed that it is important for people to understand that the funding doesn’t only help the organisation in terms of administrative costs; rather, it has a ripple effect on the children served, their caregivers, and communities.

She said: “The funding allows us to intervene with these children early and the earlier the better, as we are able to help them, teach them to be independent, and in turn it impacts their home life. Take for instance one boy in Westmoreland with cerebral palsy. We worked with them, taught the mother how to build a ramp and parallel bars. We taught the child how to use a walker. He was able to go to school, do his common entrance, go to high school, did CXC and did well in them.

“There are many like him who have gone on to school, graduated from university, found work, and are independent individuals. But when there is no funding, you get some who are in conditions where there is nothing we can do because of the period of no intervention,” she lamented.

According to Long-White, the situation begs the question of the equity of children’s rights to education.

“We often talk about ‘all children have rights’, but what about us? Do we have the same rights? So there’s the right to education, but what’s there to ensure that they have access to services?” the CBRJ head queried.

Dane Richardson, CEO of Digicel Foundation, which partnered with CBRJ on a renovation project carried out in concert with EdgeChem Jamaica Limited on Labour Day, explained that the decision to assist came after a conversation he had with Long-White at a recent conference.

“Sandrea spoke about the stigma and discrimination that many families face because they have a child that has a disability and what they do. As a result of that they don’t fully empower that child, whether socially, educationally, and any of the other resources they need to provide for that child. So with an organisation like CBRJ, it’s a no-brainer where we can give that effort to people who need it,” he said.

“The persons they serve are the poorest of the poor, some with very little education themselves, so it sort of fuels the thoughts others have and, sadly, many people will only put their efforts into what they think will translate into money,” Richardson added.

He used the opportunity to point out that success stories of disabled children graduating university are not atypical; they are just not talked about enough. He, too, called on corporate entities to offer funding to the organisation so that early intervention can be implemented, which will in turn give value for money.

“Someone may be suffering from a physical disability but cognitively they have no challenge. We can’t broad brush the disability community and think everyone is suffering and are grossly underdeveloped. Some are functioning in ways like everybody else and can have the same educational and employment opportunities; and that’s another issue that exists nationally, as many of these people have high levels of undergraduate and graduate degrees, but are unemployed,” he said.

Richardson reported that the foundation will be seeking to work with CBRJ’s Manchester centre in hopes of reaching more adolescents and children with disabilities in that area.

“We are in discussions with CBRJ and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to see how we can work with children who CBRJ caters to mostly, which is the moderate to grossly disabled children, physically and intellectually. The idea is how to cast the net wide enough so that more people can benefit from the services they deserve,” the Digicel Foundation head told the Observer.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-8216-disabled-provide-value_100199?profile=1373

Kevin Ellis has a natural aptitude for problem-solving. An electrical engineer, Ellis knows the plant inside-out and is responsible for keeping the machines running.

His job requires myriad skills and the ability to stay energised and focused at all times. Since joining the Rainforest Seafoods team, Ellis has moved through the ranks to his current position as plant maintenance supervisor.

He was recently chosen as part of an elite team of employees to participate in the Rainforest Seafoods Employee Development Programme. The programme allows employees to have regular interaction with and mentoring from senior members of the management team, and also gives them the opportunity to represent Rainforest at local and overseas events.

“It is an ongoing process that I am looking forward to. Being recognised in this way has really motivated me to continue being my best on the job,” Ellis said.

Rainforest Seafoods is the Caribbean’s largest supplier of premium-quality fish and seafood.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170529/stars-staff-kevin-ellis-his-way-top-rainforest-seafoods