June 04 - Action On Poverty Says "The Disadvantaged Mustn't Be Ignored Anymore"
Action on Poverty (AOP) says that the social security system needs to be reformed.
The group has requested meetings with both the GSD and Together Gibraltar.
A statement from AOP follows below:
Social Security for too many people is, in fact, social in-security. It's a system that is too inadequate, too secretive, and too complicated for people to understand. This can’t go on.
It’s almost a month now since ‘Action on Poverty’ protested outside No. 6 Convent Place to highlight the existence of poverty across our community of Gibraltar, and the need for the Social Security system to be reformed and modernized. On that day, the taboo on speaking about poverty in Gibraltar was broken at last.
The Gibraltar Private Sector Pensioners & Workers Association, Unite the Union's Community Branch and Equalities Committee, Equality Rights Group, and the Divorced Women's Group, indeed all the members of AOP, continue to develop the work that was started. This Campaign isn't going to go away.
The disadvantaged mustn't be ignored anymore.
Out of courtesy, AOP has once more written to the Chief Minister asking for a response to our letter delivered on the day of the protest with the aim of securing an initial meeting with him and his team to discuss the issues.
AOP has also, similarly, written to the GSD and Together Gibraltar requesting meetings for initial discussions. We would like to see all political groupings in Gibraltar grapple with these very real issues which, for too long, have been neglected and ignored. It’s time that changed.
On Thursday 6th June, Action on Poverty will be at the Piazza. We will be passing information about our campaign to the public. We will also be following that up with door-to-door leafleting throughout Gibraltar to ensure that as wide a pool of people in our community as possible get to hear about the issues. And we plan to continue for as long as it takes.
Poverty does not disappear of its own accord. The proof is that, despite all our increasing wealth, it’s there, it persists. We are determined to bring reasonableness and fairness to a situation which is anything but.
{fcomment}
