‘Regulate outdoor feedings’

From next year, the Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society (BVHS) will be looking seriously at regulating the feedings done in the open, such as in Heroes Square, The City.

Numerous groups and individuals take the time to provide food for the less fortunate in such open areas, but BVHS chairman Kemar Saffrey said it had come to the point where more harm was being done than good.

“We have more and more people coming for food that don’t need it, and we have heard a lot of people saying some of the ones serving the food are using the act as a photo opportunity,” he said.

“We need to regulate the feedings and have a systematic approach, maybe through a ticketing system because it is really creating a lot of confusion.”

Saffrey said the BVHS mostly fed their clients indoors but admitted they too went to Heroes Square twice a month because they reached more people that way. However, he said he would welcome any organisation, school or even the Ministry of Education offering their enclosed car parks for feedings where more control could be exerted. (CA)

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