‘Seniors can have fun’: Charles Jr urges older Jamaicans to stay active, register with NCSC

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr is encouraging Jamaica’s senior citizens to remain active, engaged and connected while taking advantage of the programmes and services available to them. Charles Jr was speaking at the Park Walker and Ageing Fair held at Emancipation Park in Kingston on Thursday, an event hosted as the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) marks 50 years of service. The minister praised the collaboration between the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the NCSC and the Ministry of Health and Wellness, noting that the fair has grown in size and impact.

Already you see that it is bigger and bolder, and we see more persons, more activities. We have 60 different booths or more, and we have mobile units. We have engagement for our senior citizens.

We have information that you can receive, information you can give us, we have food sampling, so many different things that you can do here,” he said. Charles Jr expressed gratitude to government agencies, private-sector partners and the senior citizens who attended from across Jamaica. “This is one of the times when we get to tell the rest of Jamaica that seniors can have fun.

This is one of the times that we can bring, and I hope that next year what we have here is not just seniors, but we should bring some more of the family members over so they can interact and see with their two own eyes seniors walking, seniors jogging, seniors running, seniors engaging, seniors having fun, seniors dancing, seniors just interacting,” he said. The minister also used the opportunity to encourage senior citizens to register with the National Council for Senior Citizens and become involved in senior citizens’ clubs. He said registration allows the government to better understand the needs and circumstances of older citizens and provide support when necessary.

“If you are a registered member, we know you, we know where you are, we know your circumstances, and we can give you the support when it is needed. When hurricanes hit, we look on our registration list and we know who our members are so we can know where we need to go to give support,” Charles Jr said. The ageing fair highlighted the importance of healthy and active ageing while recognising the invaluable contribution of older Jamaicans to our families, communities and nation.…