The definition of a homeless person remains a topic
of debate and varies according to the sociological and legal material
consulted. One New York City study defined the homeless as "those whose
primary night time residence is either in the publicly or privately operated
shelters or in the streets, in doorways, train stations and bus terminals,
public plazas and parks, subways, abandoned buildings, loading docks and other
well hidden sites known only to their users." (Baxter and Hopper 1981)
Other common names for vagrants are ‘tramps’,
‘hobos’ ‘drifters’ ‘homeless’ and ‘skid
row’. Homelessness is a social issue,
caused by structural inequalities and a lack of certain resources within an
area causing more vulnerable individuals to vacate their homes and resort to
the streets as a means of survival. The majority of homeless persons comprise
migrant laborers and those of the lower economic strata of society. This is
more so because of their weak social links, lack of education and the inability
to adapt to drastic economic, political changes.
The
number of homeless persons in urban areas has increased at an alarming rate –
it is estimated that there are 30 000 homeless men and 6000 homeless women in
New York City alone. (United Nation 2008)
Homelessness in urban environments has grown to
become a problem within cities worldwide. Homeless persons resort to the street
of cities regardless of its size to secure a means of livelihood. Literature
has indicated that the expansion of homelessness in the 1980’s and 1990’s has
been fueled by economic restructuring, ongoing welfare, state reorganization,
de-institutionalization, demographic shifts and changes in housing markets. (Takahashi
1998)
In the city of Port of Spain, Trinidad homelessness
has become a major issue within recent times. The problem has existed before
but now it is more rampant than ever. In some countries it is a more serious
offense than in others. In Trinidad and Tobago there are currently no strict
laws against vagrancy or homelessness and by many officials in power the
problem has been deemed ‘un-fixable’.
In
Trinidad and Tobago the street-dweller population grew by 13.4 per cent over
the decade 2000 to 2011. The largest concentration is in Port-of-Spain. The
distribution by sex remained predominately male and was 95 per cent in 2000 as
compared to 93 per cent in 2011. This was revealed yesterday by Dave Clement,
director of statistics of the Central Statistical Office (CSO), at a press
conference by the Ministry of Planning and the Economy at the Eric Williams
Financial Building, Port-of-Spain.
The photo (A) attached above shows a homeless person
sitting between two buildings along Duke Street, Port of Spain, with a jacket
covering his or her head shading from the afternoon sun. To me it describes the
length to which people are willing to go to survive. Photo B adjacent to it
shows a street dweller with a cart, at the time the photo was taken he was picking
up bottles from the side of the roads. I presume that he is going to sell those
to obtain money. The other photo (C) in the collage shows a homeless person
sleeping beneath a building on the hard concrete floors. All three persons in
these photos have no place they could call home and resort to the streets of
the city of Port of Spain to provide shelter.
The collage depicts the reality of living on the
streets of Port of Spain. Homelessness has become a means of livelihood for
many persons in Trinidad, not only those who are economically deprived but
those who are mentally disabled, on drugs or deranged persons can be found on
the streets of the city of Port of Spain. They flock around busy, commercial
areas where they can easily receive hand-outs and uses the resources of the
city as that of their home. The video link below shows a homeless person on the
city of Port of Spain using drain water to bathe. This is clear evidence that
homeless persons resort to the city for support.
For several years vagrants have inhabited part of
what is a car park building in Port of Spain and made it their home. The photo
below shows vagrants inhabiting the space. In the photo below, one can clearly
see mattresses, cardboard boxes, bags, clothing, garbage and other items dispersed about the surroundings. The homeless have claimed part of
this private building and temporarily calls it home.
Whilst driving past this car park several days for
the week I have noticed that the homeless people who reside there do indeed
differ from each other in many ways. Observation has led me to believe that
homelessness varies across the board; they come from different cultural, ethnic
background, and vary in age.
The existing homelessness situation is a reflection
of the fact that there is a breakdown in the social structure of our country,
which is causing vagrancy to develop and escalate. We as a country need to
examine the nature and functioning of our various institutions, see where we
are falling short and take the necessary corrective action.
I became aware today that the Minister of the People Dr
Glenn Ramadharsingh is fighting the battle against street dwelling and
homelessness. In an attempt to fight the scourge of homelessness the Government
of Trinidad and Tobago has approved $17 million to address the vagrancy problem
plaguing the country. The newspaper
article (attached below) by Shalini Hassannali sheds more light on the issue and rehabilitation
efforts.
Reference:
Baxter , Ellen , and Kim Hopper, 1981. Private Lives/Public Space:Homeless Adults on the Streets of New York . New York : Institute for Social Welfare Research.
Takahashi, Lois. 1998. Homelessness, AIDS, and stigmatization: the NIMBY syndrome in the United States at the end of the twentieth century. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Takahashi, L. M.1996. "A decade of understanding homelessness in the USA: from characterization to representation."Progress in Human Geography 20, no. 3: 291-310.
