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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - The community of Soufriere has started a
feeding programme for street beggars and indigent persons.
The soup kitchen programme, which is being managed by the St. Vincent DePaul
Society, is expected to benefit the town, as it grapples with the problem of
tourist harassment and other illegal activity, which are more likely to be
committed by street beggars and indigent persons.
The National Community Foundation (NCF) has added its support to the initiative,
which is struggling to find funds to remain viable. A recent grant of EC$4,800
was presented to the Soufriere Parish Council to assist the project. According
to Chairman of the NCF Emma Hippolyte, the NCF’s contribution will cover the
salaries of the cook and one helper.
Member of the Soufriere Parish Council and Former Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Percival McDonald said that the St. Vincent De Paul
project cost almost $20,000.
He said that the idea was to keep all the drug addicts and mental patients
away from the streets to reduce harassment, pointing out that he had written to
the Ministry of Health, in an effort to monitor the medication of the mental
patents. “All that is to try and make Soufriere a tourism friendly place where
people can come – no harassment- and hopefully, our senior people will get the
assistance that they really want,” he said
The soup kitchen was established in June this year, and now caters for 45 needy
residents.
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