Concerns mount after new mentally ill persons roaming in Hanover

WESTERN BUREAU:

CONCERNS ARE high within the capital town of Lucea, Hanover, about what appears to be an increase in the number of mentally ill persons now roaming the streets of that town.

Councillor Daren Barnes and Deputy Mayor of Lucea Andria Dehaney-Grant raised the issue at a recent Hanover Municipal Corporation meeting, stating that they have seen a number of mentally ill persons that they never used to see before, roaming the streets of the town, one of them as naked as on the day of his birth.

“In recent times I have noticed that there are a number of new homeless persons roaming the streets of the town, some very unsightly, as one of them is completely naked,” the deputy mayor stated.

She inquired as to the whether the Hanover Health Department (HHD) is aware of those new persons roaming the streets of the town, and what, if anything, is being done with regard to the situation.

Dehaney-Grant told The Gleaner in an interview that she has counted as many as five new mentally ill persons roaming the streets of the town, and what makes matters worse is that some of them have been spotted in the vicinity of the Rusea’s High School, which can pose a problem for unsuspecting students.

SECURITY CONCERNS

It was against that background that the HHD was asked for an update on the situation regarding the Chance Rehabilitation Centre, located in the Rejoin area of the parish, and which is still operating in the parish illegally despite being issued with a closure notice by the HHD several months ago. When last checked by The Gleaner, The Chances Rehabilitation Centre was operating with a patient population of over 30 mentally ill persons.

Concerns have been expressed before about the facility being secure enough to keep its patients within the compound.

Singh revealed that the closure notice from the HHD is still in place, saying a renewed effort will be made to pursue court proceedings with regard to the matter.

“I am not sure about any connection between the new persons that were spoken about by the councillors and Chance Rehabilitation Centre, but I will initiate an investigation into the matter,” Singh told The Gleaner.

“We already put a closure notice on that facility and we are proceeding with the legal procedures, and if they are still operating they are doing so illegally. So next week we are going to meet with the clerk of courts to follow up on the legal way forward,” Singh pointed out.

Meanwhile, Hanover’s Inspector of Poor Neika Edram told The Gleaner that whereas she has seen about two new cases of mentally ill persons at the drop-in centre being run by the Hanover Poor Relief Department, she is not sure if the new faces being reported by the councillors are from other districts within the parish.

“Some of the new mentally ill persons that might be seen in the town are not new to the Poor Relief Department, they would have been coming from other communities. Maybe the councillors are not aware of the faces, but we would, so for us they are not new, but they are new to the town space really. But they are not new homeless persons,” Edram stated, adding that on a daily basis the Poor Relief Department, through its drop-in centre, provides for up to 25 persons.

She says that her department works closely with the Mental Health Department of the HHD, so as to properly medicate and do follow-ups on persons needing medical treatment, and noted that the naked person mentioned is now under the care of hers and the mental health department.

“That naked person is not new to the town. He has been a regular client at the drop-in centre, but sometimes you see him you do not recognise that is the same person,” Edram stated, adding that the poor relief department will be making checks as to the origin of the two new persons that the poor Relief Department has been seeing lately.

Efforts, which proved unsuccessful, were made to contact operators of the Chance Rehabilitation Centre.