Georgetown: Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Green has disclosed that the City Council cannot currently identify a solution to resolve Georgetown’s vagrancy issue.
Green shared that the Council has been looking at a menu of measures needed to make a reality of this aspect of the city’s restoration project and once again mentioned that it is indeed a monumental task.
The Mayor noted that some two weeks ago, a meeting was held with members of the Police Force, prison officers, social services and human rights officials, City Council staff and members of the general public in an effort to identify a solution to what the Mayor considers to be, Georgetown’s most challenging issue. He mentioned that an officer from the Social Cohesion Ministry is to give the Council a report, but added quite frankly, that the group failed to come up with a solution to deal with the matter.
The Mayor reflected that many years ago, Guyana had attempted to deal with the issue of vagrancy, but explained that the methodology that was used back then may not be available in 2015.
He noted also that there are still many unanswered questions as it relates to the legal and social rights of these men and women, and while the debates as to what to do with them are ongoing, they have been providing a lot of trouble for the city.
He shared also that the Council had spoken to several homes and shelters, which explained that many of these individuals only show up to eat and then leave. He added that the only way for them to stay indoors is to physically incarcerate them. Green stated that independent organisations have been trying their best and have done “fantastically” but the problem still exists.
Green explained that sometimes, also to blame are family members who abandon and ignore relatives who may be suffering from a form of mental illness.
The Mayor mentioned that a proposal was made for these individuals to be kept in a building at Onverwagt in Berbice, which will require a lot of doing to ensure that these individuals are well kept, fed, have access to counsellors, medical personnel and equipment. He said that the problem is not being ignored, but confessed that he cannot provide a solution at the moment.
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