Desmond McKenzie displays the plans for the Portland Night Shelter and Drop-in centre
Following the search for a suitable site for a homeless shelter in Portland, Ground has been broken for the construction of the Portland Night Shelter and Drop-in Centre, which will be built at a cost of $51 million.
Local Government and Community Development Minister, Desmond McKenzie had announced last year that the poor relief office in Port Antonio. was deemed the ideal location for the shelter.
The two-storey building will include a commercial sized kitchen, doctor’s office, laundry facilities, seating capacity for over 50 persons to dine, showers and bathrooms, as well as access for persons with disabilities.
Sleeping accommodation will be provided for 18 males and 10 females, and the building will also include an administrative office and other support for service delivery.
In addition, the shelter will be equipped with water harvesting facilities, solar water heating system, and other such amenities that support conservation.
In his remarks at the ground-breaking ceremony, held at the Poor Relief Office in Port Antonio recently, McKenzie stressed the importance of having the facility in place.
“We intensified the call after a number of street persons were subject to physical abuse here in Port Antonio…It is the intention of the government to do as much as we can to take persons off the streets of the country,” he said.
The minister further noted that the tender for the facility “has been closed and in short order the contract will be signed for the commencement of construction for this facility”.
There are more than 3,000 homeless persons in Jamaica.
