Centre for the disabled is closed abruptly, yet again, reportedly for deteriorating condition of facility

Minister of Health Sir Molwyn Joseph has come in for criticism yet
again, this time as the centre that serves residents with disabilities
has been closed – less than two months after its long-awaited
reopening.

Relatives tell REAL News that those using the centre were given a
notice on Monday, March 4, that the centre is being closed because
of its “deteriorating condition.”

However, they say, there is no indication of when its services will
resume or whether the centre will be relocated.

“The notice just said not to send them back,” one family member
claims, adding that the centre was operating only two days a week:
Mondays and Wednesdays.

The facility, located on lower Factory Road, serves as a learning and
recreational centre for persons living with disabilities.

Closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it remained shut long after
normal routines were resumed.

It reopened in January 2023; but, after a mere three days of
operation, it was closed again on January 25, “until further notice,”
leaving families as perplexed then as they are now.

At that time, participants in the programme were handed a letter
that said the centre was being closed for renovation, although no
start or end dates for the project were given.

Back then, REAL News reported a relative asking why the Centre had
been reopened at all if the Government knew that construction
work was imminent.  

Now, once again, frustrated family members are asking why the
centre was reopened when – clearly – the construction promised a
year ago was not undertaken and the centre is in worse shape than
before.

Now, too, with the centre having been closed for so long, the number
of persons utilizing the centre has dropped significantly, family
members say.

“So where are those who returned to go now: back home to do
nothing again?” a concerned relative asks.

Ironically, less than two weeks before it closed in January 2023, the
Ministry of Social Transformation met with the British High
Commission to sign a three-year Memorandum of Understanding for
grant funding to establish an aquaponics project.

The aim of that project was to provide training and, ultimately, self-
employment for persons living with disabilities.

Observers are asking what has become of that grant and whether
other, able-bodied persons could be benefitting from it.

They are also crying shame on Minister Samantha Marshall, under
whom the portfolio of Social Transformation falls, and on Works
Minister Maria Browne, noting that their poor treatment of the
disabled is a black mark against their Administration.