SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF HOMELESSNESS

Oct 31, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

It is said that Governments are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable members of their society so we in Guyana welcome the announcement by the government that it would build a number of shelters for the homeless.
However, while we applaud the government, this should not be its only venture to help the homeless and the less fortunate in society. In order to make sure that the shelters are purpose-built, the government should embark on a holistic plan that includes the involvement of community organisations and non-governmental organisations with experience in sheltering the homeless.
The large number of homeless persons has become a major problem for city dwellers. A stroll around Georgetown should be relaxing, if one ignores the traffic. But one cannot ignore the pavement dwellers at night.
There is the stench that drifts insolently from the pavements and gutters close to the poor and destitute souls who do not have a place of their own. They lie comfortably on pieces of cardboard, either asleep or pretending to be.
The number of homeless people on the streets could destroy the aura of the city. These destitute souls who are in a terrible situation, eat, sleep, urinate and defecate on the pavements and in alleyways. Heaven help those who must do business in the vicinity. Their customers are less inclined to return to their places of business under such conditions.
But then again, this is a prelude to the cruelty. Night prowlers beat the daylights out of the pavement dwellers, rousing them from their slumber with blows from pieces of wood or bottle or even a stone.
Some store owners wet the pavement outside their businesses to deter occupation by the homeless. The proprietors of Fogarty’s was roundly criticised for installing sprinklers that doused the pavement dwellers who happen to make the area around the post office their home.
It is humiliation of the worst kind.
A person may end up on the street for any number of reasons. Some are there products of broken homes, others are victims of misfortune, illness, poverty, lack of employment, ostracism from society, drug addicts, alcoholics or are unable to live with relatives.
But regardless of what has caused them to descend into the depths of poverty, be it some mental illness, innate weakness, depression or perverse tendency to self-destruct; we, the fortunate should empathise with them.
Sweeping up the homeless from the streets and placing them in a shelter or a room is not going to solve anything. The State must be able to implement holistic programmes at the shelters and partner with organisations with experience in these matters. The Salvation Army is one such. There must also be access to all the ancillary things that could make a stay in the new facility meaningful, including access to medical facilities, counselling, rehabilitation and support.
During state visits, the solution was to pick up the pavement dwellers and drive them far out of town. By the time they returned, the state visit was over.
There were also efforts to house them at the Fort Canje mental institution but this failed because of resources to keep the new residents.
We should not accept the notion that the homeless prefer to live in the streets rather than in a house or a shelter. There is simply no easy solution. However, we must treat the issue of homelessness with utmost importance. Many of the dispossessed are afflicted by some type of psychological or mental illness, ranging from clinical depression schizophrenia to bipolar disorders.
Homelessness has become a major problem that must be solved.

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SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF HOMELESSNESS

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