Anger and uncertainty have marked the closure of Darwin's largest short-stay accommodation facility, with residents denouncing the Northern Territory government's decision to move them 100 kilometres south to the regional town of Batchelor.
Up to 120 people still living at the Yilli Short-Stay Accommodation (YiSSA) facility in Marrara will be moved to new accommodation in the town of around 500 people on the edge of Litchfield National Park today.
The NT government previously knocked back a Commonwealth offer to split ownership of the site, and about 200 people gathered outside YiSSA yesterday to protest the site's closure, with current and former residents saying they felt dehumanised and disregarded.
"They're treating us like cattle being chased from a station; we're human beings," Jane Garrutju Gandaŋu said.
Some residents said they were unsure where they would go when the facility shut.
"I don't know where I am staying today," Rose Laynbalaynba said.
Last Thursday, NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said YiSSA would close yesterday, but an information sheet distributed to residents said the facility would instead close today, with two buses arranged to facilitate the move.
"We have stood up an alternative facility that provides people food, care, clothing, a warm bed, a roof over their head," Mrs Finocchiaro said.
The information sheet provided yesterday also said residents who moved to the new Batchelor facility would pay $10 less per day for accommodation than they did at YiSSA, as lunch and dinner would not be provided.
As of late yesterday morning, heavy machinery was still operating at the new facility in Batchelor, with plumbers, electricians and fencing contractors also on site.
Healthcare and education concerns persist
A day out from the move, residents said they continued to have major concerns about accessing healthcare and education in Batchelor.
"I've been worried, it's not safe," Ms Garrutju said.
Ms Laynbalaynba said she shared those concerns, saying YiSSA provided quick access to government services, supplies and transport to see family.
"We've seen a lot of our sick people taken to hospital and taken back, and we didn't have to feel upset and worried about them because they were being taken care of," she said.
Harry Garrawurra, an Elcho Island resident with family living at YiSSA, said the site's closure could impact medically vulnerable people across the Top End.
"It really hurts other patients from Elcho, Ramingining, Milingimbi, from Yirrkala, because the main medication they're getting is here in Darwin," he said.
"We don't have any other place to stay — this is a good place where the bus comes around and takes all the patients to the clinic or the hospital."
YiSSA resident Janelle Guyirkuyir said the upheaval would be devastating for young children who had found consistency living in Darwin.
"I feel sad for the children," she said.
Ms Laynbalynba agreed, saying YiSSA also provided convenient, short-stay accommodation for children coming home from boarding school in the holidays.
"My granddaughter [comes home] this week, but when she comes home, where will she find me?" she said.
"She might come home and see grandma sleeping outside."
The information sheet distributed to residents said students would go to school as usual today and start at their new school in Batchelor tomorrow.
