“Pavement sleepers” have business up in arms
'Perhaps we should change the name of the town to Dumpdee"
The number of people bedding down outside shops in Dundee’s central business district continues to grow. A month after this trend was covered by the Courier, the rise in the number of ‘pavement sleepers’ is steadily climbing.
Shopkeepers on Gladstone Street told the Courier this morning (December 14) that they are at their wit’s end with seemingly no one able to assist with the problem.
One business person told the Courier that there ‘are up to seven people sleeping outside the shop’.
“They leave a mess which is embarrassing as we are a professional consulting office. I have tried putting out Jayes fluid to stem the stench but they just keep coming back.”
She added that calls to the SAPS proved fruitless. “I called the police to ask them to please move these people away from the shop but she said I must come and show them who to move. I was surprised and just said but can’t you patrol at the night, the charge office is 400 metres from my office.
“But her reply was that I must come to the police station at night and show them which of the people to remove. I told her that is ridiculous as I live some way off from town, I am 70 years old, and must drive at night to the police station and point out which people I want to be removed! It seems as if we will have to attend to the problem ourselves.”
Another businessman said the area was quickly becoming a dump. “They broke open an electrical box to store their blankets when they rise in the morning. They beg and make everything very uncomfortable. We pay rent, taxes, and VAT yet no one in authority can assist. Perhaps we should change the town’s name to Dumpdee.”
Previously the Endumeni Residents Association has suggested that the homeless be removed and accommodated at the abandoned warehouses at the railway station. But others have said this would be a ‘no-go’ as it would create another slum.
Meantime, business people are looking for alternatives as they struggle to keep their doors open in already tough economic times.
