Street-dwellers Living at the Chaguanas Maxi Stand.

         
                             

               Street-dweller "Faddy" who lives at Chaguanas Maxi Stand.

On May 28^th 2014, an article titled “street-dwellers living in Chaguanas maxi stand” was written by Ryan Hamilton-Davis and published in the Newsday – a local newspaper of Trinidad and Tobago. In the article, the President of the Route three Maxi Taxi association spoke on the behalf of maxi taxi drivers who were disturbed about the use of their facilities by the vagrants. It was said that the vagrants were vandalising the toilets, using narcotics and littering the area which made the maxi stand unhygienic and visually displeasing. The said maxi stand is located between the streets Busy Corner and Ramsaran Street and the area is frequented by thousands of daily commuters.

There is a very close and functional relationship between urban places and urban transport systems. With the development of rail ways from the nineteenth century and the evolution of motorised vehicle people commute to urban areas on a daily basis for leisure, business and pleasure.

The same can be said for the citizens and the transportation services that are provided by the maxi taxis in the city of Chaguanas. Citizens that live in close vicinity to their work place and commute short distances may not be affected by the behaviour of the homeless persons, however those that use the services and facilities more frequently may be tremendously affected. 

In the photograph taken above this homeless man who is known as “Faddy” scavenges along the maxi stands. He was given a name by the maxi owners because he live along the site. He like others, who were not visible at the time the photographs were taken, use the facilities and traverse the area usually begging the commuters for money or kind. When he was approached for the picture he seemed to have posed, unlike other street dwellers, may be because he is accustomed to dwelling among commuters and interacting with them on a daily basis. Thus was not aggravated or annoyed that the picture was being taken but readily accepted and posed. I admit that I found this quite amusing at first but on second thought it was obvious that that he feels comfortable in the urban area, where he is ignorant to the displeasure of his presence and obvious annoyance to the urban life.

 As stated by Michael Pacione in Urban Geography, A Global Perspective:

“As In nearly every city the use of public transport is concentrated in the morning and evening rush hours. Whatever the volume of demand, there is invariably insufficient capacity to provide comfortable travel conditions at these times. During conditions of peak-hour loading, passengers are often subjected to lengthy queues at stops, crowding at termini, and excessively long periods of hot and claustrophobic travel in overcrowded vehicles” (p.365).

Therefore, it is can be deduced that with the nuisance of the street dwellers in and around the maxi stands in Chaguanas the commuters will be fraught with problems on a daily basis making it difficult to utilise the services provided efficiently.

Reference:

Hamilton-Davis, R. (2014). Street-dwellers living in Chaguanas maxi stand. The Newsday. Retrieved from: http://www.newsday.co.tt/business/0,195405.html

Pacione, M. (2005). Urban geography: A global perspective. Psychology Press.


Photo Taken on Wednesday 1st April 2015 by Rosa-Marie Ramkissoon.