Some residents with serious medical conditions at a closing Darwin shelter say they are being shifted an hour away to a tiny outback town, despite previous government promises no medically vulnerable people will be moved away from key services.
The 400-bed YiSSA short-stay accommodation facility closed today, forcing residents to either look for other accommodation or move to a new site in Batchelor, an isolated town about 100 kilometres out of Darwin.
The NT government previously said "medically vulnerable" people would not be shifted to Batchelor and that "no resident who needs medical care will be left without a way to reach it".
YiSSA residents had to choose to find their own accommodation or board buses to Batchelor today when the Darwin shelter shut its doors. (ABC News: Tilda Colling)
However, today YiSSA residents spokeswoman Tilathia Gore, who is also a resident, told the ABC some with serious medical conditions — including herself — were being relocated to the Batchelor site.
She claimed the NT government was aware of their health conditions yet no other arrangements had been made for them.
The ABC understands some other people with medical conditions have been provided with Darwin-based accommodation.
Ms Gore said she needed to be near medical services to treat her rheumatic heart disease, but was shifted to Batchelor today.
She said she was concerned about potential medical emergencies as the new facility was 100km away from Darwin, where the nearest major hospital is.
"If I'm gonna be stuck out there, no way of me getting into town, and me being crook — the ambulance is not gonna to come in time," she said.
"What are they gonna pick up another body?
"I'm worried for these old people that are coming, they are sick.
"I know a couple on with cancer, another one they're on dialysis. Where they gonna go?"
Dozens of YiSSA residents packing their bags into a bus bound for the new Batchelor site. (ABC News: Tilda Colling)
Ms Gore said she had left her children in the care of family members instead of taking them with her to Batchelor.
"My babies need me as well, but I'm not going to bring them and put them in this situation I'm in," she said.
"I'd rather go out there and stay for a week, then come straight back in town. If there's not other possibility, I got no choice but to stay in long grass."
Long grassing is a colloquial term for sleeping rough, or sleeping on the streets.
New facility's readiness in question
Questions also remained today about whether the new shelter site in Batchelor was ready to be inhabited.
Yesterday, the move-out deadline was shifted 24 hours to Monday afternoon.
A bus ferrying residents to Batchelor today broke down en route, leaving its passengers to wait for a replacement. (ABC News: Tilda Colling)
Today, Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley said the government was making sure people moving to Batchelor "had somewhere safe to stay".
"The facility at YiSSA in Batchelor is in its final stage of commissioning and people will be moving out there in the next few days," he said.
"There will be buses from Batchelor into the city, we're making sure that service is available for people who are homeless; it's a voluntary service and if people want to live there they certainly can."
The ABC understands as residents arrived this afternoon, furniture was still being assembled and the site was still being prepared.
The ABC contacted the government about whether construction approvals for the site had been attained, if the site would be ready in time, and the reason for the delays, but did not receive a response by deadline.
Opposition leader Selena Uibo said the NT government had "botched this whole operation".
"The CLP have done an absolutely horrific job in transitioning YiSSA," she said.
Gerard Maley says the Batchelor site, pictured yesterday, is "in its final stage of commissioning". (ABC News: Tilda Colling)
"We have seen with our own eyes that the Batchelor facility, the alternate facility for YiSSA 100km away is not ready and fit for purpose to receive residents as of today.
"Onsite we understand there has been gravel put down under the demountables, and we have people who have mobility issues, in wheelchairs and walkers — how are they going to live with dignity in accessing that site?"
In another twist this afternoon, a bus relocating residents, with less than 30 people on board, broke down en route.
Residents, including elderly people and babies, then had to wait about 20 minutes in 30-degree Celsius heat for a replacement bus, which arrived at 2pm.
At the Darwin site, tradespeople were observed already working, including taking down all YiSSA signage.