A homeless man has lost in his novel legal bid to block the Port-of-Spain City Corporation from locking him and other homeless people out of Tamarind Square at nights.
In a 28-page judgment delivered in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell refused Hugh Bernard permission to pursue his judicial review claim against the corporation for implementing the measure without providing alternative facilities.
While Donaldson-Honeywell praised Bernard for raising awareness of the plight of homeless people in T&T, she said the case could not proceed as Bernard's lawyers should have pursued a constitutional motion instead. She said his claims focused more on how the decision affected his constitutional rights to life and liberty as opposed to the legality of the decision.
"Street dwelling is a concern not only for those unfortunate persons who, whether by choice or having suffered dire life experiences, seek to stake a claim to entitlement to reside in public places but also presents a threat to other members of the public whose freedom of movement, safety and enjoyment of public places may be adversely affected by such occupation," Donaldson-Honeywell said.
Bernard filed the claim earlier this year after the corporation erected fences along the perimeter of the park in East Port-of-Spain and placed padlocks on its gates. He claimed that he has been homeless since being deported from the United States in 1993 and has been living on the streets as the Centre for the Socially Displaced at Riverside car park (located near to Tamarind Square) is unfit for human habitation.
In his claim Bernard's attorneys also alleged that under the Municipal Corporations Act, the corporation was not allowed to limit accesss to public parks without enacting by-laws, which was not done in this case. In addition to seeking to have the corporation reverse its decision, Bernard was also asking the court to order the corporation to construct temporary facilities at the location to accommodate homeless people.
Donaldson-Honeywell disagreed as she said that the corporation had wide discretion to manage the facility and did not have the duty to provide facilities for homeless people.
"The Corporation is neither charged with, nor does it have the power to provide housing or facilities for homeless persons and it can only act within its jurisdiction. Further, allowing the displaced persons to build structures in the square could possibly cause injury to other users of the square and the respondent would bear the liability for such injury," Donaldson-Honeywell said.
As part of her judgment, Donaldson-Honeywell called upon the Government and citizens to partner with each other to address the issue of homelessness.
"The reasons for the plight of the persons reduced to living in such circumstances are many and varied. However, what is certain is that in a society as small as ours these persons are connected perhaps by less than six degrees of separation from each of us. 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," she said.
Bernard was represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Imran Ali and Krystal Richardson, while Eduardo Martinez represented the corporation.