The leader of the provincial NDP is speaking out against the government inspection process after people had to be transferred out of an emergency shelter due to what’s been described as unsanitary and unsuitable conditions.
Photos and video from the NDP show the conditions inside a private Larkhall street shelter that several former ‘tent city residents’ were put up in by government.
The Minister Responsible for NL Housing says people who had been living in tents and seeking safe housing are no longer in private market units that were clearly not in any condition to take tenants.
Minister Pike was responding to questions in the House of Assembly from NDP member Jordan Brown who indicated that some of the units offered contained rat droppings and unfinished plywood walls.
The photo on the left shows a sharps disposal bin left under a counter. The photo on the right shows apparent rodent feces scattered on the ground. (Submitted by the NL NDP.
Pike says inspections were conducted and the units did not meet the expectations conveyed to the owner by government staff.
He told the Legislature that the people who were sent there are no longer in the units. He says people living in the tent encampment have been offered spots in a new not-for-profit shelter that provides wrap-around services.
The unfinished plywood walls of one room. (Submitted by the NL NDP.
