At the request of the Saint-Gilles mayor Charles Picqué, the homeless that had been settled in the rue Couverte, near the Midi station, since last weekend were given proper shelter on Tuesday afternoon. Nearly 40 people were taken in by a support structure set up for the winter by the Social Emergency Assistance Service (Samu,) in Schaerbeek. A coordination meeting was organized between the different parties concerned. The communal services, CPAS, STIB, SNCB as well as local and federal police were present. “Local authorities cannot manage this type of situation alone, as it requires working with other authorities. Even more so around big infrastructures such as stations”, says Charles Picqué.
To protect these people from the current cold snap, the communal services went to the rue Couverte on Tuesday afternoon, and guided the homeless towards the emergency structures. They were offered shelter for the winter. Their few personal effects were stored in a building made available by the SNCB.
(Source: Belga)
