BRATISLAVA city officials had a budget of €40,000 this year to assist those who are homeless, with half of that amount going to support the Depaul non-profit organisation that operates a year-round shelter for those in need, the SITA newswire reported.
The city had said that the remaining €20,000 would be reserved for emergency situations but the sub-zero temperatures in February forced the city to use up 90 percent of those funds – €18,000 – to erect tents for homeless people in the Vrakuňa area of Bratislava, according to the city’s spokesman Ľubomír Andrassy.
The spokesman added that the “tent town” was open for four weeks and that homeless persons spent a total of 2,883 nights there and consumed nearly 1,400 litres of hot soup and tea.
Salaries for four staff members at the tent shelter cost almost €3,000. Because of the frosty weather in February the city hopes it will face no more emergencies this year because of its now-limited budget.