Homeless in peril – Saffrey

Advocate for the homeless Kemar Saffrey is concerned about tenants being allegedly evicted by their landlords during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saffrey told Barbados TODAY that over the past few weeks the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness has been bombarded with calls from families asking if they can be accommodated at the shelter because “they have been put out by their landlords or have been given notice to leave”.

However, the head of the organisation said he has been forced to turn them away since the shelter is not taking in any more people at this time due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases on the island.

Saffrey has asked the authorities to intervene and address the growing issue before it becomes a major problem.

“I cannot give an exact number of calls we have gotten thus far, but the calls have been coming. People have been sending emails and messages on WhatsApp. Most of the calls we are getting are from people who are saying that they are going to be evicted in the next couple of days and they are in need of someplace to stay.

“Up to today, we got several calls from people who have nowhere to go and want to come to the shelter. So we are pleading with landlords to be a bit more understanding at this time when a lot of people are not working and are finding it difficult to get by.

“I do understand that sometimes people owe rent and right now it may be catching up on them and landlords are looking to get them out. But right now we have to think about COVID and the seriousness of people being out on the streets. There is a case I know of where a couple is living in a car and these are cases we don’t want to hear about especially when it involves young children,” he said.

Saffrey said based on the fact that there are tenants who are genuinely finding it difficult to pay their rent because they became unemployed in recent weeks due to the impact the pandemic has been having on the economy, he recommends Government consider putting measures in place to stop landlords from evicting tenants at this time.

“And it is not only landlords putting out people. We are also getting calls about family members putting out each other. And we need to make sure that at this time, nobody finds themselves on the streets.

“We cannot take anybody else into the shelter because of the safety of those who have been here since the lockdown started a few weeks ago. They have been here for more than 15 days and they are fearful of being infected with the virus so we have taken steps to protect them and our staff.

“But while we can’t take in any more people, we are appealing to landlords to just work with their tenants because people out there are not taking anyone into their homes,” Saffrey said.

Barbados TODAY’s efforts to contact Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde proved futile. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb