I find with great dissatisfaction that the authority enshrined in our laws to uphold all laws of the land, that is, the police service, choose which law to uphold or not.
The vast majority of the public will like the idling/loitering/disorderly/vagrancy problem to be dealt with from a public-use perspective.
The Summary Offences Act, section 45 (c) creates the following offence:
"Any person found sleeping or loitering in or under any building, including any open outhouse, verandah, gallery, passage, or gateway, or in any vehicle or vessel, without leave of the owner, occupier or person in charge thereof, or on or under any wharf, jetty, bridge, pathway or in any street or other public place, and not giving a good account of himself."
The punishment is a fine of $200 or to one month imprisonment.
We can debate whether the punishment should be increased, decreased, etc at another time, but for now, let us work with what the law currently states.
I will really like some citizen group or business group to take some action against the police for not fulfilling their job and bring redress to the thousands affected by these people daily.
Probably, if these "idle and disorderly people" as they are classified in the law, know that they will be dealt with, we may see a reduction in their presence every time they return. A special unit should be established to handle this matter just as how there is a breathalyser unit.
Of course, we should have adequate social and health systems in place to deal with their problems but we first need to implement the law otherwise it is just wasting space on our law books and making a mockery of our legislative provisions.
Samdaye Singh