KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Municipality has formed a committee that, it says, will facilitate and fast-track the establishment of a permanent shelter for Knysna's homeless people.
Acting Municipal Manager (AMM) Dr Louis Scheepers said in a statement on Friday that Council had resolved earlier this year to use a portion of Erf 1343, Church Street, for the construction of a permanent shelter for the homeless people who have been housed in a temporary facility at Loerie Park since the national lockdown came into effect.
"A committee had been formed to facilitate this process," Scheepers said.
The committee is made up of representatives from the Greater Knysna Business Chamber, the Rotary Club of Knysna, Knysna police, the Knysna Community Police Forum and the Department of Social Development.
"The Knysna Municipality, The Haven in Mossel Bay and the Department of Social Development will be the primary custodians of the facility and it will be run by Hephziba Solutions, a registered NPO," said Scheepers.
Aside from providing a safe haven to the Greater Knysna area's most vulnerable residents, the AMM stated, the centre will offer a number of interventions. "This base will include a skills development facility to promote self-sustainability, and addiction interventions run by appropriate stakeholders.
"Where possible, efforts will be made to reunite and reintegrate visitors to the shelter with their families," he said.
Because the Disaster Management Act Alert Level 1 allows for certain sporting activities to resume, they need to consider an exit strategy for the homeless people from the Loerie Park sports facility. "Making Loerie Park available to the sporting public will, however, be a by-product of realising our main priority - implementing a permanent solution to the problem of vagrancy in the Greater Knysna area," he said.
The project could not materialise without the ongoing engagement with and support from critical stakeholders. "Our partners include the organisations represented on the committee and, among others, local religious organisations, the Knysna Alcohol and Drug Abuse Centre, Famsa, the Rock Church, the Department of Labour, the Department of Health and, of course, the people of Knysna," he said.
The deadline for submission of comments and/or objections by the public was 16 October. "These comments and objections will now be evaluated in order for the project to progress to the next stage," said Scheepers.
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