It is a rare occasion when all serving on the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown (M&CC) agree on an issue, but at Monday’s statutory meeting one such occasion arose — when there was unilateral agreement that the homeless people lining the City’s streets are causing an eyesore.
The issue was raised by Councillor Ivelaw Henry, who reported that between 06:00hrs and 18:00hrs on any day, the “social rejects” could be seen lining the pavement in front of the Bourda Market and the pavement leading to the Bourda Post Office, hindering patrons’ free access.
“Between 6am and 6pm, no social reject should be sitting on the pavement, because visitors — foreign and local — walk to the Post Office; and we need to look at (this issue) because (persons) cannot (enjoy free access to these pavements). I hope that we can get that policy decision,” Henry stated.
This Councillor lives a stone’s throw from the Bourda Market. He related that he would receive complaints on a daily basis from the vendors, and he blasted the City Constabulary for not effectively aiding in the removal of the homeless people.
Town Clerk Royston King related that this issue has been in the public domain for a while, and that it requires an inter-agency approach, as opposed to the Municipality tackling it alone.
“This is not a problem for the City Council alone; it requires an inter-agency approach. If you remove those people from that particular stretch, (they then) move to another area. They used to live in Cummings and Charlotte Streets under a shed. That shed was taken down, and then they went across the road to a portion of land owned by Gandhi; and after it was cleared up, they went over to Bourda Market,” King explained.
“We saw a whole community of people with mattresses and saucepans etc… We have to have an inter-agency approach to help us deal with this issue in a holistic manner…there are people who are afraid of these people,” he added.
Addressing the issue, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green said interim plans could be put in place while meetings are held with other agencies to discuss a permanent solution to the issue.
“I saw 21 persons lying along that area, and it is a cause of concern for vendors in the area. We need to look at a way we can temporarily address (this problem), then we can look at what we can do with them,” she said.
The mayor suggested that the M&CC “clean and water bathe” the pavements every morning before the homeless persons return there from the Night Shelter. She added that another shelter should be built to tackle the issue.
“They do not want to go to the shelters, because they are separated and cannot be with their partners… It is a social problem, but we cannot encourage them around our markets, because we offer for sale food and other items…,” the Mayor related.
It was decided that the Council take temporary action to prevent those persons from being around the markets while a search be initiated to find a permanent solution to the problem.
The Social Cohesion Ministry’s strategic plan for promoting and enhancing social cohesion in Guyana (2017-2021) has identified homeless and indigent persons as a group to be treated as socially unequal.
