Let’s stop begging in its tracks

Alan Davidson

Opinion

To beg or not to beg . . . that is the question.

Last week there was an article reporting comments made by myself and others about the regular occurrence of “begging” in our shopping centre, especially around the vicinity of money machines. It has become apparent that this activity is not a one-off occurrence. A number of people have reported being subject to this sometimes intimidating behaviour.

So last Friday evening, about 5.30pm, I tested the water. I noted a young chap lingering within the vicinity of a money machine in Gladstone Road, so I went up and used the machine. He then, very politely, asked me if I had any spare coins. I make the assumption I was not his first request.

Now, if you are like me, your reaction would be: “Hey, we are in a welfare state, we pay taxes, if a person is unemployed then he or she would be on a benefit. There should be no way in the wide world of sport for any of our citizens to be begging on the streets.”

We have a bylaw that clearly makes “begging” illegal. I am now told that it’s not worth the time or expense pursuing court action. Well, if the bylaw can’t work, why the hell is it there? Has anyone tested it to see if it can’t work, or are they jumping to conclusions?

At the end of the day, conceding defeat on this issue is not an option. You see, there are a couple of questions which have to be answered. If the appropriate authorities were to challenge those out begging, and establish they are recipients of benefits, then it would take a lot to convince me not to commence steps of judicial action.

However, and this could very much be the case, there are those out there begging who have no fixed abode and no source of income. Surely we have a system to address that? Surely these cases are for the various agencies receiving government funding that specifically assist the needy.

Yes, I accept, there are those within our community who do not have the wherewithal to register for a benefit, and those who have dropped off. But if they have resorted to begging, they are easily identified. There are not that many of them.

Look, deep down, I don’t want to see people in court, but I sure as hell don’t want to see grown adults stopping people on the street and asking for money, as a day-to-day existence.

I do not accept it is the council’s role.

I remember characters wandering and sleeping on the streets back in the 1970s and ’80s, that is not new to Gisborne — “Buster” springs to mind — but not this “asking for money”.

Look, I have seen abject poverty in my travels, where begging is the difference between life and death. But not here in Gisborne. This has to be stopped in its tracks before it becomes an accepted, normal practice.

Sometimes being in a remote area does have its advantages. In other words, those who feel the need to beg will most likely be local whanau, not some South American backpacker. Therefore I believe we have no recourse but to address the problem here, because it’s not as if the problem has been imported.

So for those on a benefit, begging, I suggest we commence the judicial system. Those that have no source of income and are having to beg, then let me say this — there are agencies that receive funding to help these people. Surely they know what’s going on!