The Opposition slammed Government for lack of action on the homeless but Housing Minister Terry Lister said shelters were planned in Hamilton and Southside.

Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert hit out after The Royal Gazette published stories highlighting the plight of people living in cars and at the crumbling, drug infested Salvation Army shelter.

He said: “It is not right that the Salvation Army is finding it difficult to carry out its humanitarian work because Housing Ministers under the PLP are not keeping their promises and not getting on with addressing the housing crisis plaguing our people.”

Government had promised a replacement for the Marsh Lane shelter three years ago but nothing has been done. Some homeless people have boycotted the shelter because of rampant drug dealing.

Mr. Furbert said: “The government can find over $20 million dollars to buy fast ferries but can't scrape together $6 million dollars to build affordable housing for Bermudians.

“It is wrong for our people to have to live in cars,” Mr. Furbert said.

“It is wrong for our people to be forced onto the streets because drug dealers have taken over government owned shelters. What is Bermuda coming to and why is the Minister silent and inactive on this issue?”

Mr. Lister said the Housing Ministry had no plans in place to replace the crumbling emergency housing complex run by the Salvation Army in Marsh Lane because it fell under the Health Ministry.

“However in due course it may fall back on us. Our ministry hasn't addressed that at all.”

But he said Government was looking to build new accommodation to replace the 30-40 beds under threat at the dilapidated Canadian Hotel in Reid Street.

Owner Ted Powell wants to make it into an office block but Government has lobbied him to keep it open until alternatives are in place.

“We are looking at some places in the City of Hamilton and Southside. They are alternatives but they are not tomorrow morning. Redesign and rebuilding is part of the process.”

He said Government had to go through the planning procedure just as everybody else does.

The property at Southside would need substantial renovation, said Mr. Lister.

“At Southside we can get things going within the next year or so. We are pretty confident of that.”

The Canadian Hotel was threatened with enforcement in February 2002 by Government over dodgy wiring and fire hazards but is still open nearly two years on.

Mr. Lister said: “Conditions there are primitive in some ways or desperate if you want to call it that but, if there was a requirement to shut the Canadian Hotel down, the people currently living there would be forced into the streets and would be homeless.

“You don't want people living in substandard places but to ask the owner to upgrade a place he has plans to take down is sheer foolishness.

“I would never ask him to do that. I am actually asking him and the people there to be patient and work with us to allow us to get an alternative.”

However Mr. Furbert said: “All we have seen for the past five and half years is broken promises, which causes real hardship for our people.

“Since the PLP lacks the initiative, commitment and political will to produce a housing plan that will address the deepening housing crisis, we will continue to urge government to examine the United Bermuda Party's housing plan,” Mr. Furbert continued.

“Meeting the housing needs of our people takes precedence over politics and we need urgent steps to handle this crisis.”

Mr. Furbert said the New United Bermuda Party wanted to build 100 homes over two years for affordable rent. Ideas include:

Encouraging private construction of affordable housing in special development zones through tax and other incentives.

Working with financial institutions and developers to create a financial package that supports lower interest mortgage payments.

Encouraging construction of multiple dwelling units in high-density areas.

sMr. Furbert said a national housing strategy to provide innovative long-term approaches to the problem was needed.

Mr. Lister said he was well aware of the challenges in housing but cost was ballooning with an acre of land now worth more than $2 million. He said: “The key to housing is we simply have to be in a position to house our people.”

“If you have a piece of land which can bear a house and an apartment which can put two families in it, that piece of land is $250,000 and whatever you build on it is going to cost you $5-600,000, you are in a very expensive proposition.

“That's part of the challenge that we face in trying to deal with it, in trying to find larger tracts and put up multiple units to build in a way that's cost effective.”

He appealed to the public to call in with details on empty properties so Government could then try to lobby the landlords to let their houses to Bermuda Housing Corporation tenants.

Around 100 landlords are in the scheme in which Government guarantees the rent and promises to restore the property if it gets damaged.

Mr. Lister hopes to more than double the number of empty properties into the rental market.

“We could solve Bermuda's housing problem if we could just get access to the vacant houses.”