Clarion call

Bernard’s novel lawsuit against the Port-of-Spain City Corporation pit two competing interests against one another: the rights of the homeless, and the expectation of citizenry who have a right to access and enjoy public spaces.

Justice Eleanor Donaldson- Honeywell, in a ruling on the judicial review application of Bernard, said although the lawsuit failed on its merits it served as a “clarion call for urgent action to be taken by the nation to address the issues of the socially displaced.” In the lawsuit, Bernard claimed the homeless were adversely affected by the corporation’s decision to place locks on the gates to the square.

In December of last year, the corporation locked the square leaving only one gate open. The lawsuit contended that if this fifth gate to Tamarind Square was locked the socially displaced would have nowhere left to go.

Bernard argued that it was unfair to him and other homeless persons to be denied entry to the square without any alternative arrangements being made to accommodate them. He also sought to have the court make an order requiring the City Corporation to leave the gates open until viable alternatives are made for them and asked for tents and portable toilets in the square.

“In a society as small as ours these persons are connected perhaps by less than six degrees of separation from each of us,” the judge said. “Accordingly, this issue of street dwelling is a matter that requires urgent attention and it is a concern from which no member of society can feel absolved of responsibility. A nation’s greatness, according to Mahatma Gandhi is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” She dismissed Bernard’s lawsuit as he failed to show that judicial review was an appropriate remedy for the alleged breaches of his constitutional rights meaning the door may be open to an alternative form of action.

Bernand’s plea that the homeless will have no other place to stay if the last gate of the square is locked speaks to the inadequacy of resources to deal with the problem. The Centre for Socially Displaced at the nearby Riverside Plaza is overwhelmed by the numbers seeking shelter. It makes a valiant effort to help, but the manager recently lamented that people were now squatting on the ground floor.

This is a problem that requires political will. Little headway has been made under successive administrations.

Under the Patrick Manning regime, street dwellers were hauled out of the city in time for swanky international summits, only to return again. Then, the People’s Partnership Social Development Minister Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh tried an exercise of placing the homeless in rehabilitation centres outside the capital in locations such as Piparo. Former PoS Mayor Louis Lee Sing also cleared the streets in policing exercises but these actions faltered in court. Some persons were sent to St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital but most ended back on the streets.

The last PoS Mayor Kerron Valentine had promised a census of the homeless. This clearly must wait until after local election.

The San Fernando City Corporation recently banned feeding homeless persons on the city’s streets urging Good Samaritans to do so at designated shelters.

These plans are all well and good, but there must be partnership between all stakeholders, public and private, to find a longterm solution. This is especially so now with the economic downturn which is seeing out-of-work families struggling to keep the roof over their heads.