By Noel Thompson, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
Administrators at the St. James Infirmary in Mobay are seeking financial help to erect a building to house its 30 female residents who have had to be relocated.
According to Ms. Nora Chambers, the matron in charge of the infirmary, one of the major problems facing the infirmary was the need to refurbish the female ward or to construct a new building, so that the female residents could be relocated.
"We had no choice but to relocate them temporarily in another building because the present ward where they are housed needs to be reconstructed. We really need them to return to the ward," Ms. Chambers said. She could not say how much money would be needed or how old the building was but suggested it was built several decades ago.
The inmates have been relocated inside the chapel and in the staff quarters, as well as another building, which was built recently.
"Like any other person, relocation is a difficulty and some of the residents, despite their condition, they do not really like it. They are all destitute. Some of them are not really sick, but they are not able to manage for themselves. They have neither food, clothing nor shelter," Matron Chambers stated.
The St. James Infirmary, like others across the island, caters to the needs of persons physically and mentally challenged, as well as some persons who are living in abject poverty and persons who also live on the streets. Infirmaries fall directly under the portfolio of the Ministry of Local Government, which mandates it agency - the Parish Councils to see to the day-to-day running of those facilities.
The St. James Infirmary has a total of 58 males and 30 females, ages between 22 to 98 years. One male resident died two weeks ago. He was 100 years old.
The St. James Parish Council supplies food to the infirmary while the wider Montego Bay community and Friends of the Infirmary gives assistance in other forms when needed
