THE threat to property, life and limb posed by vagrants, and persons of unsound mind, roaming the streets of Georgetown, is assuming alarming proportions, but Town Clerk Royston King recently disclosed plans to deal with this issue.However, most disturbing to citizens is the tendency for some vagrants to unleash wanton violence in the streets, via such weapons as stones, bottles, sticks, and ‘jukkas’ (homemade daggers).
In view of such threats, concerned citizens are now calling on the competent authorities to move urgently to institute systems to rid the streets of the vagrancy problem.
Policy formulation
Meanwhile, Town Clerk Royston King said recently that an inter-agency committee has been set up in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Protection to deal with the homeless and vagrants. The M&CC and the ministry have begun to formulate a policy to address this issue.
But the problem runs beyond just homelessness and sleeping on the pavements. Vagrants of unsound mind, particularly those who are substance abusers, have a history of displaying violent behaviour – often squabbling over cardboard boxes to set up their pavement ‘bed’, property disputes, and sudden attacks against passersby.
They are also known to become abusive and aggressive to persons who do not respond appropriately to their supplications for money. They are known to react by tossing mud or sand on car bonnets and windscreens, among other displays of disaffection.
Citizens recently recalled one incident, way back, when a vagrant struck a passerby on the head with a coconut in the vicinity of the former Guyana Broadcasting Corporation on High Street, resulting in the man’s death. And about two years ago, another vagrant who used to lurk around Parliament Buildings struck a St. Stanislaus student on the head with a piece of greenheart wood, resulting in him being hospitalised.
Another recorded case occurred in the Psychiatric Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital when a so-called ‘junkie’ (substance abuser) violently attacked a female nurse on the ward. The internal security intervened and an ugly scenario erupted, wreaking havoc in the ward with the man of unsound mind gaining the upper hand.
And two weeks ago, another person of unsound mind, near the Guyana Chronicle, threatened to kill a customer at a nearby business enterprise for not complying with his request for money. And more recently, another mentally unstable person, smashed the windows of at least three cars in the compound of the GPHC because he was not allowed to have his way.
However, plans are on the cards for a collaborative effort among the M&CC, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Public Health to rid the streets of vagrants.
Passing the buck
But while the M&CC seems eager to ‘get the ball rolling’, this publication has received no clear word from the two ministries. Asked for a comment on what steps it plans taking in this joint initiative, an official from the Ministry of Social Protection said the issue was the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Health. But an official contacted at the Ministry of Public Health expressed confidence that the responsibility rests with the Ministry of Social Protection.
Former Minister of Health in the PPP administration, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had said that his ministry was charged with extending its public health care and mental health services as part of a collaborative programme to eliminate the presence of vagrants on the streets of Georgetown.
He said the programme would have seen officials at both the Health and Human Services Ministries working in collaboration with officials at City Hall. It was decided that the City Council would be tasked with locating the vagrants and handing them over to the Ministry of Health. The minister said that although the health ministry was at the time offering limited assistance to vagrants, the next step would be for them to be granted medical attention and psychiatric treatment, as required. Then those found to be mentally disturbed would be transported to the Psychiatric Hospital at Canje, where they would be admitted.
However, the problem faced by the Ministry of Public Health is that often after being treated and released, many vagrants “end up right back on the streets,” since they are not readily admitted back into a family home or re-integrated into society.
The Ministry of Health, at that time, threw the challenge out to the then Ministry of Social Security to make available another facility to house the discharged homeless persons. This is so, since the East La Penitence Night Shelter is intended basically for homeless persons and not for substance abusers or persons who are prone to be violent or abusive.

By Shirley Thomas