There should be no fighting over the affairs of the elderly, former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Lashley has declared.Responding to the recent public exchange between Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey and CBL Chambers over the law firm’s draft legislation dealing with the protection of senior citizens, Lashley said the matter should not be dealt with in a “territorial” manner. However, he insisted, any such legislation should not be allowed to make it to Parliament if there has been no buy-in from all relevant stakeholders.Last Thursday, attorney-at-law Corey Beckles and his legal team presented to the media a draft Elderly Protection Bill which proposes penalties for individuals who abuse the elderly.However, two days later, Minister Humphrey made it clear that the Government had nothing to do with that draft legislation and that as far as he was aware, CBL Chambers had not consulted with stakeholders such as the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP).
