Lisbon’s Odivelas metro station is open early in the morning until Sunday to accommodate people left homeless by the cold weather, at the request of the Odivelas city council, the public transport company announced this Wednesday.
“It was the city council of Odivelas, like the Lisbon city council, that asked for support” for the opening of the Odivelas station early in the morning, said a source at the Lisbon metro, which operates mainly in the capital, Lusa reported, but it also has stations in the municipalities of Odivelas , Amadora and Loures.
As part of the decision of the Lisbon Municipality, chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD), to activate on Tuesday the Emergency Plan for the Homeless, the Santa Apolonia, Oriente and Rossio metro stations open in the early hours of the morning, from Tuesday (January 9) to Sunday (January 14) , providing support to these people from 11:00 pm to 6:30 am.
A source from the Odivelas City Council, chaired by Hugo Martins (PS), confirmed to Lusa that it has asked the Lisbon metro to open the Odivelas station early in the morning to provide support to people experiencing homelessness due to the cold weather.
The request was made jointly with the municipality of Loures, chaired by Ricardo Leana (PS), authorizing the transfer of homeless people from this municipality to the Odivelas station, the same source indicated.
The Municipality of Odivelas has not activated the Emergency Plan for Homeless People because the expected criteria are not met, namely when the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) issues a “cold weather warning of yellow or orange, which corresponds to daily minimum temperatures of 3° C to -1°C for at least 48 consecutive hours.”
On Tuesday, the municipality of Lisbon announced the opening of three metro stations – Santa Apolónia, Oriente and Rossio – in addition to normal opening hours, so that homeless people can stay overnight, given the cold recorded this week, without, however, specifying the duration of the measure.
This Wednesday, the Metropolitano de Lisboa reported that “the stations open since the early morning of January 9, [terça-feira] until the morning of January 14 [domingo] will be as follows: Santa Apolonia (north, sidewalk next to the station building), Oriente (entrance through the gate from the Tagus/shopping center), Rossio (entrance through the Praça da Figueira gate, next to Rossio).”
Later the public transport company added the opening of the Odivelas station (upper access, entrance next to the ticket office).
The opening of four stations outside the metro operating schedule, which usually occurs at 6:30-1:00, is expected “until January 14,” but “if necessary, the date will be extended,” he emphasized.
In this context, Metropolitano de Lisboa emphasized its “efforts as a socially responsible company” and stated that the measure includes “support from the municipal police” as well as increased surveillance and cleaning.
In addition to the metro stations, Lisbon’s contingency plan includes opening the Casal Vistoso municipal pavilion to house the homeless overnight with 100 beds, as well as providing hot meals, food and warm clothing.
Speaking to Lusa, the coordinator of the Lisbon Planning and Intervention Center for the Homeless (NPISA), Paulo Santos, said today that on the first night of the activation of the emergency plan for the homeless, 44 people came to the pavilion and, of these, 35 people stayed overnight, and “ the rest were sent to other transitional or more definitive responses.”
According to the director of the Municipal Civil Protection Service, Margarida Castro Martins, the pavilion will still be open on the night of Sunday to Monday, but it is expected that from Monday, the 15th, it will no longer be open. , given the forecast for rising temperatures.
On Tuesday, municipal president Carlos Moedas explained the context of the activation of the emergency plan: “It is a plan that is activated every year if the temperature drops below 3°C for two days, but I decided as president of the municipality. camera that we have to activate it now. Obviously we are not at 3°C yet, but we have very low temperatures […] and we have a very vulnerable homeless population.”
At least the municipalities of Oeiras and Leiria have also stepped up their plans with the same effect.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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