2023-10-27 16:03:03
It all starts from one observation: between 2021 and 2023, complaints from users concerning people wandering in STIB stations have more than doubled, even though this year is not yet over. A feeling of insecurity for customers, and a real security problem for the homeless too, because they risk ending up electrocuted by the STIB structures which carry current at a rate of 900 volts.
Faced with this, STIB had already put in place a specific system this year: the SubLINK project, established in February. This therefore brings together STIB, but also the associations Le Projet Lama, DIOGENES and Transit, Samusocial, as well as Bruss’Help.
Double reinforcement
At the end of October, the public transport company is therefore announcing new arrangements, financed by the Brussels Region. Concretely, two components are established.
On the one hand, the strengthening of security staff by more than 30%, who will now work at the beginning and end of the night. On the other hand, the creation of a marauding team, made up of both STIB workers and members of associations dedicated to the supervision of wandering people and drug users. This system is inspired by what is done in France, and will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Its aim will be in particular to redirect people who are wandering towards reception facilities.
Concerning the security aspect, Brieuc de Meeûs, the director of STIB, explains that “qhen we have this feeling of security in the stations, we allow people to go there and it is a kind of promotion of public transport, we create an environment conducive to them using the network“.
Sharing of expertise
For his part, Bruno Valkeneers, the spokesperson for Transit, a non-profit association specializing in the supervision of people in addiction, welcomes the strengthening of the STIB system: “We must know that the wandering people who shelter in the stations will hide more and more, particularly in very remote places, which we do not know and to which we do not have access, even if only to security reasons“, he explains.
“This collaboration will therefore allow us to create links with these people that we are not usually able to reach. In addition, we will be able to work in a network, between different associations, which is fundamental in the issue of homelessness and drug use, because each case is specific and each association has its area of expertise. Here, we will therefore be able to pool these areas of expertise“.
Second consumption room
Furthermore, this Friday, the Brussels Minister of Social Action and Health Alain Maron (Ecolo) announced the upcoming creation of a second lower-risk consumption room in Brussels. It will be installed near the Ribaucourt and Yser stations, particularly affected by the phenomenon of drug consumption. A crisis shelter for drug addicts will also be created.
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