Has Govt. forgotten about this centre for the homeless?

Jul 13, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor
It is with shock that I read a report appearing in the media, headline ‘PRG puts vagrants’ removal on hold’ with the fly line ‘cites financial challenges.’ In the apparent confusion, the Ministry of Social Protection and the PRG seem to have forgotten the existence of the multi-million dollar Hugo Chavez homeless centre.
This two storey structure, which was opened in 2013, is supposed to have medical, recreational, kitchen, conference, training and dining facilities. It ought to have the capacity to not only house over one hundred inmates; the centre’s very name includes rehabilitation and reintegration. So it is not like if it has a static population, it is supposed to be a revolving system!
Why then, is the Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence speaking about waiting for a building to be released by the Public Health Ministry and the Head of the Secretariat talking about constructing another building based on funds provided in budget 2017.
Is this Government saying that the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration is full to capacity? I would not know, because we have heard precious little about the operations of this facility. What we have seen is the proliferation of vagrancy on the streets. And the ones who have adopted Fogarty’s as their home is an absolute eyesore.
There must be a review of this underutilized building; else the argument of the nearsightedness of this administration will be made. How can we talk about spending millions to build another structure to take in vagrants, when we have a structure for that specific function that seems to be gathering dust?
Randy Talbot

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