Homeless Bernard still in Tamarind Square

HOME:  A homeless woman dries her clothing on a tree at Tamarind Square, Port of Spain yesterday.
HOME: A homeless woman dries her clothing on a tree at Tamarind Square, Port of Spain yesterday.

Homeless man Hugh Bernard has moved back to his “home” at Tamarind Square where he has taken up residence for about four years.

Earlier yesterday, Bernard was not at the square and his lawyers were unable to say where he was. When Newsday visited at about noon, all the gates to the square were locked and there was no one there.

At about 4 pm, however, when Newsday revisited, the main gate to the square on the western end was open and Bernard, who unsuccessfully took the Port of Spain City Corporation to court, returned to his makeshift tent on the eastern end.

He refused to speak to the media saying he is now being hounded and there is nothing in it for him. There were less than five homeless people present and Bernard’s tent was the only structure in the square. One woman was drying clothing, including intimate apparel, on a hedge.

On Monday, a High Court judge ruled that the Port of Spain City Corporation had no duty to provide accommodation or facilities to displaced people, nor did the homeless have a right to sleep in the square.

After the court’s ruling, Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez said clean-up and beautification operations will begin at the square to return it to the citizens. He also emphasised that with the court’s order, the city corporation has the right to evict the homeless from the square at any time.

He also said the issue of an appeal by Bernard will be dealt with when that time comes.

Also in her ruling, Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell ordered Bernard to pay the city corporation’s lawyers fees.

While this is also likely to be appealed, it was explained that the party that is owed costs has the option to enforce it in the same way as an outstanding judgment. In Bernard’s case, the order was made for costs to be assessed. In default of an assessment, the corporation will have to put forward a proposal to Bernard’s lawyers and if there is no agreement between the parties, the costs will have to be assessed by the court.

In the lawsuit, Bernard claimed the homeless were adversely affected by the corporation’s decision to put locks on the gates, which was to deny them and other members of the public, entry into the square. In her ruling, Donaldson-Honeywell said there was no evidence from the corporation that it had decided to lock the gates to the square at night.

She also found the corporation did not limit the use, by the public, of Tamarind Square in a manner that was unlawful.

Donaldson-Honeywell also held that Bernard did not present any evidence to prove his presence in the square was solely due to homelessness and did not involve any unlawful act of loitering. She also pointed to evidence by the corporation’s witnesses that there were obstructions on the pathways of the square posing danger to passers-by, and added that the prosecution of any offence committed by the homeless would be left to the discretion of the police.

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"Homeless Bernard still in Tamarind Square"

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