Activist, PoS mayor tackle how to help the homeless

A date for the opening of a drop-in shelter for the homeless on the ground floor of the Centre for Socially Displaced Persons at the Riverside Plaza car park, Port of Spain, is yet to be established.

However, Port of Spain mayor, Joel Martinez, expects work to begin soon after the Homeless Assistance Office, to be located in the same space, is completed by the NGO’s founder, Anthony Salloum.

Salloum plans to open by the end of July.

Martinez told Sunday Newsday even before the pandemic, the mayor’s office, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of PoS, and the Bankers Association came up with an idea which led to the fencing off of the ground floor of the car park.

Those who feed the homeless would be encouraged to bring them to the new facility to get cleaned up, get a change of clothes, have their meal, and sleep for a night. They could leave in the morning and return on evenings.

“We are going to get back to that stage again just now. What we want to do is to help Mr Salloum set up his office where he could start his assessment process. Then we will start putting structure to it so people could come on a regular basis.

“We are going to try to encourage people to volunteer and help, so it would be the Social Development ministry, mayor’s office, and the Homeless Assistance Office.”

He said when the NGO is established in the space, corporate TT would be approached to assist with mattresses and other items to allow the facility to be properly utilised.

“Unfortunately, based on the time we had done all of this, we weren’t able to help the homeless in any major way. But whatever we do from here on will be progress.”

The space was previously a temporary homeless shelter when, in April 2020, the Defence Force built rooms, bathrooms, toilet and washroom facilities as part of a project headed by the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services to house the homeless during last year’s stay-at-home restrictions.

In a press release on February 17, the ministry announced since the restrictions were lifted, the facility was underutilised. It said there was enough space at the centre for covid19 guidelines to be adhered to. So, the government closed the temporary shelter.

On May 19, Social Development Minister Donna Cox gave Martinez the keys to the space amid concerns about the homeless roaming the streets on the first three nights of the state of emergency and subsequent curfew.

In a previous Newsday article, Cox said the reason the mayor was given the keys was solely to create more space for the homeless looking for a place to go during curfew hours.

“We gave the key to the mayor to use as he sees fit, and he decided he will work along with Salloum to meet whatever needs of the homeless, that’s what I know.”

But Martinez was not aware that all the cots, shower heads and other fixtures had been removed by the ministry when the temporary shelter was closed down.

He told Sunday Newsday he had not been there since last year, when it was a functioning space with 64 people in residence. It was only when he later handed over the keys to Salloum, on June 2, that he was made aware the space was empty.

“I thought it would have been similar to what it was before but that was not the case.”

In response to emailed questions about the temporary shelter (C19), the Social Displacement Unit of the Social Development Ministry said the ministry provided the necessary funding for the establishment of the shelter. Furnishings and materials that were in the space was either deployed elsewhere or disposed.

It added, "The Ministry is not considering the opening of a temporary space for the homeless in Port-of-Spain at this time. CSDP is the facility for the street dwelling population in Port of Spain and is currently being guided by public health regulations and protocols."

The Homeless Assistance Office has been in operation for the past 20 years, helping hundreds of homeless in one way or another. Due to extenuating circumstances, Salloum and his volunteers left their last space on Duncan Street and have been working out of their vehicles for several years. Salloum intends to use about ten per cent of the space in Riverside Plaza as an office.

“The Homeless Assistance Office will see about getting the homeless assessed, determining what category of care they fall into, and then assisting them.”

Salloum says these categories include medically ill, mentally ill, addicts, the elderly who need convalescence, deportees, and those whose homes were burned down, destroyed by an act of nature, and so on. The NGO helps get them into convalescence homes, emergency housing, access grants, get national documents, and generally assists them as well as keeping track of their progress.

There was a delay in handing over the keys to Salloum, however.

When contacted on May 27, Martinez said he would hand over the keys only if Salloum dropped a court appeal against the corporation, on another issue, in which he was involved, to do with homeless people having access to Tamarind Square. Instead of going through with the appeal, the court suggested mediation between the parties. Since then, both Martinez and Salloum have said the mediation was going well.

Martinez said the corporation “agreed to ensure that the place and the surroundings are clean once he starts the operation. The ministry is very enthused about what is taking place there and, according to the minister, they are willing to give whatever assistance is necessary in bringing it to a point where we can actually make some headway.”

“I know the mayor wants to get them off the streets, but that is not really in my purview.”

Asked via WhatsApp who was responsible for opening the shelter for the homeless to have a place to stay during curfew hours, Cox suggested Sunday Newsday call the mayor and ask his plans.

“The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services has been closely monitoring this situation and has been in communication with the Commissioner of Police and the mayor on this matter. As you are aware, the ministry handed over the keys for this facility to the Port of Spain City Corporation.

“The commissioner has given the assurance that these persons will not be interfered with during the curfew hours in light of their circumstances.”

Salloum said Martinez was “very big on this whole thing” and so has been a big support to him and the Homeless Assistance Office.

He is in the process of seeking assistance from the business community to help set up the infrastructure for the office, including a ceiling, flooring, and partitions. He is also securing materials and equipment, including cameras and office furniture.

He intends to begin work in the space on June 28 and expects it to be completed in two weeks, providing he gets funding from the business community.

“I am not setting up a night shelter. You can say that is already upstairs,” he stressed. “I am setting up an office downstairs to attend to the needs of every homeless person in Port of Spain and environs and whoever wants to be assisted.”

He said the Riverside carpark was not designed for human habitation and was never meant to be a permanent place for people to live. His dislike for the shelter is widely known, but he decided to set up an office in “the belly of the devil.”

He added, “I know that Minister Cox is really making an effort to ensure that this shameful situation is rectified soon.”

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, former PoS mayor Louis Lee Sing said the Government, including the Opposition, has to “grow up” and “fix” the problem of street dwellers, because a solution is not impossible. He suggested a large property be found and outfitted so the homeless could sleep as well as have an outside space for activities. He said it did not have to be in the city, and the military should be assigned to supervise them.

“In this case, I don’t think the government is remotely concerned about street dwellers, because they have the whole country to worry about.”

He said when he was mayor and the city corporation removed the homeless from the streets in 2012, one of the objects was to understand who was on the street at that time.

It was discovered that, of the 400 people picked up, the highest percentage were drug addicts. The next highest category was the mentally ill, followed by deportees, and then those who had lost their jobs and homes and ended up living on the streets.

“If a society cannot take care of its most vulnerable, ie people who fall through the cracks and can’t pay their rent, then we might as well close down the Ministry of Social Development. We may as well close down all the agencies that are set up to look after these matters from a state perspective.”

He said regulations were needed so deportees would have to go to an agency similar to Vision on Mission when they arrive in TT. The government should overhaul how the country addresses the mentally ill, including home visits, a proper patient registry, and scheduling for their medication.

He also suggested mandatory addiction rehabilitation when such people go before the courts.

“The societies that do not have these problems are societies where the law is enforced. Wherever law is enforced, there is order in the society. What we are talking about is disorder, and that’s because there is no law, and if there is law, it is not enforced.”