Mayor to tackle increasing homelessness in Sando

ADMITTING the homeless situation is worsening in San Fernando, another attempt is being made to free the city of street dwellers.

On Thursday, mayor Junia Regrello led a walkabout in the city with officials from the Social Development Ministry, South West Regional Health Authority, public health and police officers, talking to those living on Harris Promenade.

Social displacement unit workers of the Social Development Ministry tried to interview each person and assess their situations.

Some were receptive to the offers of shelter, food and even jobs in the URP and CEPEP. Others declined and moved away from the glare of the media cameras. Regrello said he was encouraged some of them wanted to be reintegrated into society.

Gerald Bacchus, 56, said he has been on the streets since 1997. He said after returning from the United States where he spent ten years living and working, the home he grew up in was no longer available. Living on the streets, he started using marijuana and cocaine but has since stopped.

He accepted accommodation at Shamrock Court – a home for the socially displaced, on condition, “That I come out here during the day to do my hustle and go back there in the evening.”

Questioned by June Beckles, field officer for the Social Displacement Unit, Anthony “Animal” Douglas, 58, admitted to serving three prison terms and being a patient at the psychiatric ward of the San Fernando General Hospital.

Douglas, who has been on the streets for 26 years, said he also underwent a six-month rehabilitation programme at the Piparo Drug Empowerment Centre and is drug free. He said his social status changed when his father died and he got into problems with his siblings.

SWRHA acting regional manager for psychiatric and mental health services, Damian Taylor, said there will be some intervention and treatment for those who have mental health challenges, but could only give it with the individual’s consent.

He said an offer to be seen by a doctor was declined by one person, so they now have to take a different approach.

As a procession of students from the nearby St Gabriel’s Girls RC School passed by singing a hymn, after a special mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Taylor assured such individuals will not be left in the streets indefinitely at risk to the public.

Court Shamrock has accommodation for 50 men, but only 25 are staying there at the moment. Regrello said, over the Christmas season the number reached 64. There is no accommodation for homeless women in the city.

The mayor said the ministry has identified similar facilities at Santa Cruz and other areas.

He said the generosity of charitable citizens feeding the homeless on the streets several times a day, had increased their population in San Fernando.

“The more we give (food) the more (homeless) we are going to get. He advised that contact be made through the mayor’s office for distribution, either through Court Shamrock or the homeless centre at King’s Wharf.

“We understand you want to give back, but do it in a structured and orderly fashion.”