On any given day, students walking along Harris Promenade could have their lives disrupted by threats and harassment from the many street dwellers who now live there.
San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello described some of them as menaces to society as they abused drugs and alcohol.
At yesterday’s statutory meeting at the San Fernando City Hall, Regrello said there is increasing aggression and unruly behaviour shown by several of the 85 socially displaced people living in the southern city.
So much so that this increased aggression has led to the murder of Junior Miguel, a street dweller, who was kicked off the pavilion at Skinner Park by another street dweller during an argument over a pair of rubber slippers.
In a later interview, Regrello said parents have been complaining to him that several street dwellers have been walking up to their children on the promenade, after school. The street dweller would tell their children “what they can do to them.” He said there were several reports where some homeless men had exposed their private parts to children.
There are seven schools near the promenade which serves as a thoroughfare for children after the school day. Regrello added that there was a street dweller who defecates and masturbates on the pavement, in the full view of those passing. Earlier this year, a security fencing was built around the fountain along the promenade as street dwellers had begun bathing nude. Requests for benches on the promenade by people waiting for transportation have been temporarily denied because, in the past, the street dwellers would sleep on them.
“Coupled with the increasing aggression and unruly behaviour by these socially displaced persons, who assemble on the promenade, their actions are a major cause of concern as some of the young girls from the nearby schools are constantly harassed on their way to and from school. A contributing factor is the free meals provided on a daily basis by good-hearted individuals and charitable organizations,” Regrello said.
In San Fernando, there is a by-law that prohibits feeding the homeless on the streets. This decision was taken because street dwellers would discard their styrofoam containers and plastic bottles on the pavements and roads. As a few homeless people slept outside the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday, garbage could be seen between the fence and an electrical installation on the compound.
Regrello’s appeal was for charitable citizens to work with the San Fernando City Corporation to provide the homeless with meals in a clean environment that is suitable for proper disposal of the waste. Regrello said the San Fernando Centre for Socially Displaced Persons will be up and running soon while Court Shamrock is still functioning. If the homeless have to go there for food, he said it will take them off the streets and allow them to be in a safer environment.
Laws in force
Currently, the Summary Offences Act prohibits sleeping or loitering in public places, wilfully and obscenely exposing oneself, obscene language, disturbance of the peace, annoyance, danger of residents or passengers, throwing of stones or missiles.
The Mental Health Act also allows a mental health officer who has reason to believe that a person found wandering in public who, by reason of his or her conduct, appearance or conversation is mentally ill and in need of care and treatment in a psychiatric ward or hospital, may be taken into custody and conveyed to such to a medical facility, with the assistance of the police.