Highlighting that the neglected Dorfolk Elderly Home in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has been in a state of disrepair, Regional Chairman Renis Morian has indicated that the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) is currently seeking funding for its rehabilitation.
While the building has been in the community for decades, only a senior citizen’s club – the Golden Years Club – is presently operating out of a small section of the building.
Lindeners have been calling for the structure to be repaired and made into a fully functional senior citizen’s home, owing to the lack that such a facility does not exist in the community.
The facility is as non-governmental organisation and is run by a committee, although the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LM&TC) is partially responsible for the senior’s home.
Officials have in the past noted that the lack of funds has been a sore issue in moving the facility forward. However, Morian said the RDC, aside from its budgetary allocation, has been seeking funding to offset repairs.
“There are a number of projects that we would have asked around, spoken with different agencies (about)… This is outside of the region’s budget… One is to rehabilitate the Dorfolk Home.
The neglected Dorfolk Elderly Home in Linden
The Dorfolk Home has been there for a long time serving our adults and it is in a state of disrepair for a over a decade. So we’re moving to have the Dorfolk Home rehabilitated… We have spoken to Minister Raphael Trotman and we’ve spoken to the Minister of Public Infrastructure. We’ve spoken with folks from the Ministry of the Presidency. We went asking all around…for support,” he indicated.
The Regional Chairman added that he has been in contact with the facility’s committee which has expressed willingness in moving forward. He noted however that there are some legal limitations which have to be ironed out.
“I said to the custodians, ‘For the Government to spend money on a non-Government building, there’s some legal things to be done’. The RDC don’t want to run the Dorfolk Home, we don’t want to take over,” Morian noted, citing that the aim is solely to rehabilitate the facility.
Meanwhile, Councillor Vladimir Glasgow has made the recommendation for the facility to be fenced. The Golden Years Club, which has been in existence at the facility for 22 years, consists of seniors who engage in activities such as exercise, craft, health education and cookery. Members have outlined several issues regarding the infrastructure of the building, noting that it was not constructed in a senior citizen friendly fashion.
For instance, they noted that the washroom facility is situated too far away from the section they occupy and there is an opening in the middle of the building, which leaves it exposed to the elements.
Presently the building is in a substandard state, with many abandoned rooms, apart from the section that is occupied by the Club.
