Lingle pushes completion of 3 shelters for homeless
The governor extends an order for Leeward construction projects
Gov. Linda Lingle extended an emergency proclamation yesterday to accelerate the building of emergency and transitional shelters for the homeless on the Leeward Coast.
The proclamation is needed to complete three shelters on the Leeward Coast that are currently under way and nearing completion, Lingle said in a news release.
"As the homeless population along the Leeward Coast continues to grow, it is urgent that we complete these shelters and transitional housing facilities in an expedited manner," she said.
It was the fourth supplement to an emergency proclamation created July 6, 2006, to build temporary shelters for homeless people and which was scheduled to expire today.
In 2006 the city began closing beach parks overnight, forcing the homeless out of the parks, starting with Ala Moana Beach Park.
In her latest emergency proclamation, Lingle said the number of homeless on the Leeward Coast getting state aid in February was 3,900. About 36 percent, or nearly 1,400 of them, were children.
The total Leeward homeless population, however, is expected to be higher because of undocumented people.
The proclamation said the homeless population there remains an "exacerbated threat" to health, safety and the environment.
Since Lingle's 2006 proclamation, the state has built two Leeward Coast shelters that have helped about 1,500 people.
The latest proclamation is limited to the completion of three emergency or transitional shelters on the Leeward Coast:
» Villages of Maili
» Building 36 in Kalaeloa
» Kahikolu Ohana Hale O Waianae
The shelters would provide 222 living units, space for 650 homeless people and services such as foster care and job and life skills training.
The emergency proclamation also reduces to 14 the number of laws suspended for the relief effort, including those affecting employee wages, environmental impact statements, water pollution and the transfer of funds between departments.
It is in effect through Dec. 31.