There is increasing concern about two growing homeless encampments off Highway 99 in Richmond.
The encampments are on both sides of the highway, and explosive growth is one concern, while an actual explosion is another.
“This encampment is right above the new jet fuel pipeline and there have been significant fires that have been set by the unsheltered population here,” Richmond city councillor Kash Heed told Global News.
The encampments are on Crown land and the responsibility lies with the B.C. government.
“We get no cooperation from them whatsoever,” Heed said.
“We actually get resistance from them on taking any action.”
Heed said axes, swords and machetes are among the dozens of weapons seized in the past year.
The city estimates there are more than 30 campers and trailers and the cleanup bill could exceed $200,000.
“How long have I been here? About a year and a half,” resident Guylaine Auclair told Global News.
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She claims to own four trailers and lives at the encampment with her many cats and kittens.
Auclair told Global News she has been offered a spot in modular housing, but with so much space, rent-free, she said she doesn’t need to leave.
“It’s so pretty,” she said.
“There’s like flowers everywhere… It’s like paradise.”
Minister of Transportation Mike Farnworth told Global News that they are aware of the frustrations.
“The people in these sites often have a variety of differing needs in terms of where they eventually end up,” he said.
A similar situation played out under the Oak Street Bridge late last year.
The City of Vancouver spent more than 40,000 taxpayer dollars clearing an encampment, all without provincial participation.
Heed said if these sites next to the highway are not dealt with soon, Richmond might take matters into its own hands again and send the provincial government the bill.
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