Youth council tackles environment, homelessness
Published:Saturday | November 25, 2023 | 12:09 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Mental health, climate change with a focus on recycling plastics, and homelessness dominated the discussions as the Junior Council of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Council (KSAMC) held a mock sitting on Friday.
Junior Councillor Brittney Malcolm, of the Papine division, called on the KSAMC to partner with UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Youth to launch a mental health initiative to assist students and schools in the Corporate Area.
She declared that an Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) report last year confirmed that Jamaica’s children are in dire need of mental health intervention. The document revealed that more than 2,000 children under the age of 18 contacted the OCA’s Safe Spot helpline, seeking support guidance and someone to talk with them, with 450 of them diagnosed with unspecified mental concerns.
Malcolm cited a study by the Pan-American Health Organization, which identified insufficient prevention, treatment, care and management of mental health conditions as major contributory factors to human suffering and many mental health illnesses. She disclosed that whereas historically and culturally mental health has not been a priority in Jamaica, it is now emerging as such and is a matter of growing concern for the general public and politicians.
“The 2017 Global Burden of Disease database shows that depression and anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health concerns facing the population of Jamaica, around three per cent of Jamaicans have a depressive disorder and 4.1 have an anxiety disorder,” she added.
For Junior Councillor Mickoi Hall, of the Cassia Park division, a major concern was the potential public-health fallout from pollution, including the ad hoc collection of solid waste and plastics, in particular.
“Due to the increased volumes of rainfall collected in plastic-polluted mosquito-breeding habitats, vector-borne diseases, including dengue fever, continue to be a public health risk,” Hall noted, adding that the health ministry in November 2023 reported a rate of 317.4 cases per 100,000 people being affected by vector-borne diseases.
She also warned of the dangers of air pollution, citing it as another area which needs targeted attention.
“Air pollution causes low birth weight, asthma, reduced lung function, respiratory infections and allergies in children and adolescents, as stated by renowned neonatologist Heather L. Brumberg in June 2021,” she noted.
Hall went on to quote from a November 2022 Gleaner article, which stated that of the 800,000 tonnes of residential waste generated in Jamaica each year, an estimated 15 per cent is estimated to be plastics and that the amount is growing.
“The United Nations Environment Programme in January 2021 stated that while three-quarters of materials are disposed at unauthorised disposal sites, the remaining portion frequently finds its way into drains, rivers, gullies, beaches, and eventually into the sea, where it leads to the harming of coastal and marine ecosystems and causing flooding, also making the local population’s environment unhealthy,” Hall said.
Meanwhile, Junior Councillor Thai Shirley moved a resolution, calling on the KSAMC to implement comprehensive statistical reports on the homeless population in the municipality in order to improve the quality of social services and programmes aimed at alleviating homelessness.
With an estimated 2,000 homeless people in Jamaica, of which some 700 live on the streets of the Corporate Area, with 500 of this number in downtown Kingston, many youth are also at risk of joining them due to difficult, harsh and unforeseen circumstances.
Work is being done by the KSAMC to address this state of affairs, Shirley acknowledged, but said the pace of work needs to be accelerated.
“By addressing homelessness, the Government can make big improvements in several SDG (sustainable development goals) areas such as no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, reduced inequalities and sustainable cities and communities, decent work and economic growth.”