SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland – By the end of March this year, the town of Savanna-la-Mar should be free of street people as the Westmoreland Parish Council is now refurbishing a building at the parish’s Infirmary to accommodate the homeless and mentally ill people who now roam the south coast town.

This assurance was given at the last monthly sitting of the Westmoreland Parish Council, which was held at the Anglican Church Hall.

The facility, which is being refurbished at a cost of $1 million, will provide food and shelter for the street people. They will also be provided with medication as a part of the long-term aim of reuniting them with their families.

The problem of the mentally ill and homeless roaming the streets of Savanna-la-Mar has been a perennial one, but mayor Ralph Anglin has insisted that it is the council’s responsibility to provide shelter for them.

Upon completion, the shelter will be operated by the parish council in conjunction with the Westmoreland Association for Street People (WASP). WASP, which is headed by former president of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce, Barbara Stewart, has been trying to generate funds to effect the necessary refurbishing of the facility after the council provided the building. However, when WASP was unable to generate enough funds to carry out any repair work on the building, the council again stepped in.

Meanwhile, businessman Norman Anderson has welcomed the move by the council to provide proper housing for the homeless, a number of whom now spend a lot of their time at the post office building. According to him, the street people in the town of Savanna-la-Mar have been defacing the walls of the town’s post office, where his call centre is located.