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Homeless and drug addicts are only allowed to stay in two demarcated zones at the Merode metro station in the Brussels municipality of Etterbeek. This is a measure taken by Mayor Vincent De Wolf (MR), the Brussels public transport company MIVB confirms.
Homeless people and drug addicts are causing a lot of trouble in the subways. The municipality of Etterbeek is now trying to do something about this. The municipal ordinance establishes two zones in which homeless people are tolerated and came into force on Saturday for thirty days. The measure comes because the municipality saw an increase in drug use in the station.
According to De Wolf, the main purpose of the regulation is to “keep people away from the tracks, which pose a danger to them,” the Etterbeek mayor told La Dernière Heure. “The idea behind it is not to rid the station of drug addicts. That would be difficult from a human and operational point of view.”
The zones where homeless people are tolerated will be set up at the entrance to the station on Abbé Cuypersstraat and at the escalators one floor below. The municipal services work together with STIB and the police for this purpose. Special waste bins for hypodermic needles will also be provided.
There will be an evaluation after thirty days.