Abbotsford’s Lonzo Road encampment has been dismantled.
About 15 people were living at the site near Sumas Way and Highway 1 earlier this month, when it was announced that the site would be used for a temporary shelter. Residents of the camp were given two weeks to vacate, and government officials said they were each given offers of assistance to find alternate housing.
The deadline to move was Monday, June 26, and the camp was cleared out completely the following day.
BC Housing had been on site helping residents pack their things and arrange for storage of belongings. The site was filled with personal belongings, vehicles, burned-out recreational vehicles, and garbage. Lonzo Road had been called the most violent encampment in the city by the Abbotsford Police Department recently, with first responders unable to attend to fire and ambulance calls without the assistance of officers.
A 50-bed temporary shelter will be built on the site at a cost of $4 million, with construction beginning as soon as the site is cleared. It will be in use for 18 months while a new location is secured. The camp is situated on Lonzo Road in east Abbotsford just north of Highway 1 west of Sumas Way (Highway 11) and occupies Ministry of Transportation (MOTI) land that was initially intended as truck parking.
Pivot Legal Society and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said Monday that people were not being offered the help they need, and referred to it as an illegal eviction. The housing ministry has repeated that people have been given assistance to find new housing.
-with files from Vikki Hopes
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READ MORE: Lonzo Road encampment in Abbotsford to be cleared out and new shelter built
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