Have a heart for the homeless

WE ARE dismayed by the position adopted this week by Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez with respect to the Centre for Socially Displaced Persons at the Riverside Plaza car park in the capital city.

At a time when a public health crisis is raging and a curfew is in effect, it is disappointing to see petty squabbling effectively shut the doors of this temporary homeless shelter.

The keys to the shelter on the ground floor of the premises were handed over to Mr Martinez by Social Development and Family Services Minister Donna Cox a week ago.

The mayor was expected to pass them to Anthony Salloum, founder of the NGO Homeless Assistance Office.

But Mr Martinez told Newsday on Thursday he will only do so when Mr Salloum drops a long-simmering lawsuit against the corporation on a separate matter.

Mr Martinez suggested he was doing everyone a favour even by dealing with issues relating to street dwellers in the first place.

“The Port of Spain corporation and the mayor do not have authorisation to really deal with the homeless under the current laws,” he said. “So whatever I’m doing, it’s going to be done on a humanitarian basis.”

The mayor’s stance is mind-boggling to say the least.

The plight of the homeless in our capital city is most definitely relevant to the responsibilities of the mayor. If he regards himself as being fettered in the exercise of certain legal powers, that is all well and good, but no one can seriously deny he is at the very least an important stakeholder in this issue.

Indeed, this is evidently why the minister gave Mr Martinez the keys – which he did not refuse – in the first place.

In fact, the court case that has apparently so provoked the mayor’s pique is a reminder of the very responsibilities Mr Martinez would now like to reformulate as being merely a favour to all and sundry.

That case saw Hugh Bernard, a socially displaced man, go to court, with Mr Salloum as a witness, after former mayor Raymond Tim Kee and members of the corporation reportedly padlocked the gates around Tamarind Square. Mr Bernard lost.

Mr Martinez avers he will only hand over the keys if Mr Salloum drops a pending appeal of the case, which is in mediation. How the pending case is relevant to having a space for the homeless to stay amid the state of emergency is not apparent. It does, however, give the impression of tampering with ongoing legal proceedings

Mr Salloum – or any citizen for that matter – is entitled to exercise his legal rights without fear that state officials will act with partiality against him.

Mr Martinez is equally entitled to implement city policy as he sees fit.

But it is irrational, unreasonable and inhumane to hold the homeless hostage in this dispute.