Three years after Government announced plans for replacing the Salvation Army homeless complex with a state-of-the-art homeless shelter, tenants are enduring drug dealing in crumbling buildings.

The prefab buildings in Marsh Lane, built to last ten years, are now well into their third decade. It is understood that some homeless people now boycott the building because the pushers which roam free.

Despite Bermuda's housing crisis, beds at the Government-owned shelter run by the Salvation Army have been reduced because one building is too exposed to dealers, says the Major Chuck Eyre. “We closed down booth six primarily because it's too vulnerable and difficult to control.”

The shelter now has 61 beds including around 15 for women, cut from the 80-odd beds there when then Health and Housing Minister Nelson Bascome announced plans three years ago to rebuild with the help of an anonymous philanthropist.

Maj. Eyre said absolutely nothing had happened with Government's proposal for a new complex. “There's been a lot of talk about it.

“We even got as far as trying to talk elementary design but nothing has come of it. It will get worse if they knock down the Canadian Hotel which will put a few other people out on the streets.”

The history of the Salvation Army shelter goes back well over 20 years, said Maj. Eyre. “It was a prefab structure with a ten-year life-span. It's falling apart in places you can't see, never mind the places you can see. There are no funds available to keep it any kind of shape.”

He said the Salvation Army had taken hope from a task force on housing issues set up by former Nelson Bascome.

But nothing has been heard of it since Terry Lister took over as Housing Minister. Mr. Lister did not return calls to The Royal Gazette.

“We are disappointed,” continued Maj. Eyre. “We have talked to people about this but we haven't had any indication it will be resurrected.”

The compound is surrounded by homeless people living in cars Maj. Eyre has dubbed “Car World” and a shanty town of tents and cardboard boxes.

“It's a haven of drugs. Car World provides people with car condos, those are cars stacked on top of each other but they live them, a lot of them are drug users.”

He said the fence keeping them out had been repaired several times by Works and Engineering but was now wide open. “You could drive a truck through it. Every time it gets repaired it gets cut open again.

“It's a place they can get in and distribute drugs for those willing to use them.”

Shelter manager Lionel Cann said: “What we have done to prevent the fence from really getting damaged is I have left it in such a way that they don't have to cut it. I have asked them not to cut it.”

Mr. Eyre said the Salvation Army was attacked over the drug dealing in a recent meeting.

“I simply said you can get on our case if you like, but don't forget you have drugs in your schools and they are only there for five or six hours a day and they are supervised at a ration of 35 to one and they still have drug problems. We have a problem but it can't be solved by wishing. It needs to take some courageous people who are prepared to do something for people who have no voice.”

He said not every resident was on drugs. Despite being called an emergency housing complex some residents have been there for five years.

“Every time they try to move out they are told by Government they have an address - your address is emergency housing.

“But how can we call it emergency if you can't use if for emergency because we can't move these people out?”

Maj. Eyre said the goal should be to assess homeless people and push them in the direction of the right Government department.

“Instead they are feeding them to us. We have to turn the tide, it seems to be continually coming in. Emergency housing is basically warehousing people. It's not a place for people to live. It's fine for a brief stop there to tap into the resources of the community.

“But to leave these people here endlessly? We have seen people here for over five years.”

Maj. Eyre said the Salvation Army's long term goals was to make it emergency housing with Government providing a second tier of housing for people passing through.

“There are people in the community who are not likely to change. The thing for these people is to probably acknowledge what exists and provide them with accommodation which meets their needs and allows them to live their life with a degree of dignity.”

Mr. Cann is aiming to work with the others by setting up a life skills programme in the new year to help ease them back into the community. He said Government's Court Services Department was helping put together a drug education package with counselling.

“At the grass roots level we are making some headway. Court Services have a vested interest, a lot of their people frequent the complex.”

Social services and the pensions department were also being co-operative said Mr. Cann.

But working with higher levels of Government was proving more difficult said Maj. Eyre.

“You can always climb the pole if you have a helping hand. Our problem is there's a whole other generation of homelessness coming up now and if we don't do something with our current problems we aren't going to be ready for them.”

He said Mr. Cann was trying to stem a tide of young, drug addicted, homeless people.

“He might remove one but there's five more taking their place unless we do something more in the line of professional and sensitive response to people's needs we are going to be bogged down far worse than we are currently.”