Former military hospital in Belém, which will welcome homeless immigrants, a “structure with a multidisciplinary team” to support the elderly population, an “intermediate solution.”
Lisbon City Hall (CML) has agreed to install a “structure with a multidisciplinary team” to support the elderly population of the parish of Ajuda in the former military hospital in Belém, which will house homeless immigrants, according to a local association.
In statements to Lusa at the end of a meeting with the municipal executive, the president of CURIFA – Unitary Commission for Retirees and Seniors of the Parish of Ajuda stated that this “intermediate solution” proposed by the association “was accepted” by the municipal management. .
According to Vítor Pereira, the “productive meeting” was attended by the president of the CML, Carlos Moedas (PSD), and the councilor for Human and Social Rights, Sofia Athayde (CDS-PP), and A commitment was made to move forward with this solution “as quickly as possible.”
What is at stake is the Government decision to install a temporary reception center for immigrants in the former military hospital, where the municipality of Lisbon had committed to building an intergenerational center.
On the 15th, CURIFA called a rally that brought together two hundred clients. The participants unanimously approved a document in which they demand the creation of the intergenerational center in the military hospital, located in Boa-Hora, and the construction of affordable housing in the Lanceiros 2 Barracks, in Calçada da Ajuda.
“The elderly population of the Ajuda parish is being harmed,” said Vítor Pereira, recognizing at the same time: “People cannot live in tents, we cannot want for others what we do not want for our own.”
“We managed to find common points to meet the needs of the elderly population of the parish of Ajuda and also the homeless,” he stressed, adding that CURIFA will present, next week, “an x-ray of the elderly in Ajuda” and that it has already He has a meeting scheduled with Councilor Sofía Athayde for July 10.
The parish has “a very elderly population with few economic resources” and “the support provided is not sufficient for the quality of life to which older people are entitled.”
Heard at the time of the announcement made by the Government on the installation of a reception centre for immigrants, the president of the Junta da Ajuda highlighted the “pressing” needs of the parish.
Jorge Marques (PS) recalled that these needs were identified in 2018 and that the current municipal executive committed to implementing the intergenerational centre project in Ajuda.
According to Vítor Pereira, the creation of the centre in the facilities of the deactivated hospital is still on the table, but “it will take time, studies and a plan are needed.”
Already on the 19th Carlos Moedas had said that the migrant reception centre will be temporary and compatible with support for the elderly.
“The construction we are talking about has nothing to do with the construction of the intergenerational centre,” he stressed, at the decentralised public meeting of the CML dedicated to the parishes of Alcântara, Ajuda and Belém.
The meeting on Friday between the municipality and CURIFA also resulted in the agreement to sign a protocol “with dates and commitments without the possibility of setbacks” and the decision to create a working group on homeless people.
“We are talking about homeless people of various nationalities, with specific problems that need to be addressed,” highlighted Vítor Pereira.
CURIFA also requested a meeting with the Ministry of Defense, which owns the deactivated spaces of the Boa Hora military hospital and the Lanceiros 2 barracks.
“The Ministry of Defense must clearly say what it plans to do in the future with the two deactivated teams and whether it is available to put them at the service of the population,” he urged.
Source: Observadora
