Arabic version: نقل سكان ييسا مع التشكيك في جاهزية باتشلور

According to ABC News, residents of Darwin’s 400-bed YiSSA short-stay accommodation facility were required to find other housing or travel to a new site in Batchelor after the shelter closed on Monday. The new location is about 100 kilometres from Darwin, where the nearest major hospital is located.

Residents spokeswoman Tilathia Gore said people with serious medical conditions, including herself, were being relocated to Batchelor despite previous Northern Territory government assurances that medically vulnerable residents would not be moved away from key services. Gore, who has rheumatic heart disease, said she needed to remain close to medical care. She also raised concerns for residents with cancer and those on dialysis. ABC News understands some people with medical conditions were provided Darwin-based accommodation.

Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley said the Batchelor YiSSA facility was in its “final stage of commissioning” and that people would move there over the following days. He said buses would operate between Batchelor and Darwin, describing the accommodation as voluntary and saying the government was ensuring people had somewhere safe to stay.

Questions remained over whether the site was ready when residents arrived. ABC News reported furniture was still being assembled and preparations continued. The government did not respond by deadline to questions about construction approvals, readiness and delays. Opposition leader Selena Uibo called the transition “botched” and said the facility was not ready or fit for purpose, citing accessibility concerns for people using wheelchairs and walkers.

A bus carrying fewer than 30 relocating residents broke down en route, leaving passengers including elderly people and babies waiting about 20 minutes in 30-degree Celsius heat for a replacement. At the former Darwin site, tradespeople were seen removing YiSSA signage.