Outgoing Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing says nothing has been done to address the issue of street dwellers in the city and that the situation is worse than it was three years ago.In a brief telephone interview with the T&T Guardian on Monday, he described the task force for socially displaced people set up by the Ministry for the People and Social Development as "ole talk."The issue has been a bone of contention between Lee Sing and the ministry as Lee Sing sought to remove the street dwellers from the capital.
He said although the Centre for Socially Displaced Persons in Port-of-Spain, where many of the city's homeless already reside, had been earmarked for refurbishment, nothing has been done to date.He said Minister of the People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh was a mirror of the Government.In a T&T Guardian report earlier this year, Lee Sing said he was considering retaining attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj to file a lawsuit challenging the Government over the proliferation of street dwellers in the capital.
In response, Ramadharsingh, in a telephone interview yesterday, said 77 people were currently being rehabilitated by the ministry and 170 lives have been "touched" since the task force was set up two and a half years ago.The ministry, he said, has been working strategically to put things in place and was building capacity and treating human beings with dignity.Invitations have been sent out to invite more NGOs to come forward, he said.
He added that 18 people were at an intensive course at Piparo Empowerment Centre and the Government was currently set to spend $10 million to transform the Centre for Socially Displaced Persons, which, if approved and completed, would have a gym and other modern facilities.The note, he said, was currently before Minister of Health Dr Fuad Khan and Minister of Planning Dr Bhoe Tewarie for their input.
He said police continued to monitor and work with NGOs to address displaced people who might be a threat.Ramadharsingh said a press conference will be held to provide a full update on the matter.