The VGF’s termination notice arrived on Monday morning; by afternoon, the shelter on the B-level of the station had already been cleared. For nine years, homeless people could sleep there, mostly in winter, and more recently also on hot summer nights. The lease with the Frankfurt Association for Social Housing was only valid for the winter half-year, but the VGF terminated the arrangement as of September 30 and demanded immediate evacuation due to ‘danger to life and limb.’
Social Affairs Councillor Elke Voitl (Greens) now faces an enormous challenge: ‘We have to organize sleeping places for 150 people in no time,’ she says. In crisis meetings with the fire department and disaster relief, other overnight options are being sought. The city’s offer of refuge in the station had been heavily used until the end – up to 150 people sought shelter from the heat there every evening.
The VGF justified the termination with fire safety concerns. The emergency shelter had been reassessed for continuous operation: even a small fire could endanger the homeless because the station would fill with smoke quickly. Moreover, many of them are ill and could not flee quickly in an emergency. The 2018 permit from the supervisory authority and the Darmstadt regional council only applied to the winter emergency at the time; now the B-level is used almost year-round.
Voitl said she was surprised by the harsh turn of events: they had known about the fire safety report but had planned renovations to improve the situation. Mobility Councillor Wolfgang Siefert (Greens), who also chairs the VGF supervisory board, criticized the evacuation as ‘completely unacceptable.’ The SPD parliamentary group called on the city council to quickly find an alternative. The SPD’s transport policy spokesperson, Kristina Luxen, rejected criticism of the VGF: the company’s core task is safe local transport, not housing the homeless.
Source: www.faz.net
