A place called home

In the meantime the oil-producing countries tell us they will cut production, which may mean a rise in revenue, just as the Minister of Finance was putting the final touches to his Budget. I hold my breath. In the midst of our interest in scandal and the high life, I wonder: is it possible that the attention might shift to those who never seem to share the limelight or the good things like wine and jewelry and whose struggle is simply to feed themselves or to find shelter? Ironically, there is now a case brought by a number of homeless individuals against the Port-of- Spain City Corporation and this is scheduled to be heard this week.

The homeless have filed a judicial review lawsuit because they have been locked out of Tamarind Square. They claim if all gates are locked “they will have nowhere to call home.” Despite the incredulity expressed by commentators, it is the province of citizens of all classes to demand that they are provided with facilities that ensure their right to life. Whether the mayor of Port-of- Spain likes it or not, the homeless may not simply be placed in rehabilitation centres, nor rounded up and hidden away. What we do need are adequate State agencies and social services to deal with what is in fact a complex matter.

There are many who will spend this Christmas on the streets. Of course in that season of goodwill, good-hearted citizens will give alms and gifts to the homeless, who will nonetheless remain faceless.

For many of us the homeless are vagabonds or beggars who bring disrepute to our cities and towns. It is not seen as a problem that society has to face or to solve.

My interest in this matter is piqued because right now in Ireland the rise in the number of homeless has been a prime topic on all media, including features in national newspapers and on talk shows.

Part of the problem here is that many can no longer pay mortgages and since the recession a record number of 5,000 people live on the streets. There are incessant calls for more action from the State. I look to see whether our homeless generate such interest. Strangely, information is scarce.

Yes.

The Equal Opportunity Commission has listed the homeless as a key marginalised group in its discussion at the Hyatt on “Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination in National Budgeting”. The reported highlight of this discussion is the newly appointed committee to consider amendments to the definition of sex in the Equal Opportunity Act. There are other categories of marginalised peoples listed by Lynette Seebaran-Suite, including those who are disabled and the homeless.

In my reckoning the most vulnerable categories are the disabled, those who have a psychiatric condition, those who have been abused and those under the thrall of alcohol and drugs and these account for a significant number of the homeless in Trinidad and Tobago.

But there are many whose incomes are so low that it is impossible for them to even rent a home.

This suggests that we need a rigorous well-run social welfare support system to prevent homelessness.

I see a severely physically disabled man on the road between Curepe and St Joseph every time I drive past, as he weaves his way through the traffic. So many wandering through traffic or by the roadside are obviously suffering from mental illness. So many have been abandoned by their families.

They are not simply homeless.

They are unwanted.

As are the children who are forced at night to walk the city streets as prostitutes by their parents. I am told the Holy Faith Sisters some years ago initiated a series of pastoral encounters at night with these abused children. These children may soon become truly homeless as they fall victim to other predators and to drugs. But of course the real factor governing the plight of people on the streets is that it generates so little discussion. Yes. The 2016 report by the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services notes a number of key areas for concern and concludes that the big issue is a lack of effectiveness or, to use their own words, “a more integrated approach is needed to sharpen the precision of our interventions.” And what is urgent is a “clearly outlined national strategy.” There seems to be no adequate system to protect the weak, the marginalised and the vulnerable, despite the fact that the problem is known and even researched.

The associations caring for abused women told us only a few weeks ago that while they can find shelter for women, there is no space for the children.

What happens to those children whose mothers flee their homes, but can find no accommodation for their offspring and who end up “displaced” and impoverished? If only these questions would generate as much interest in the streets as all the mauvais langue.