In a bid to drive homeless people away from a key waterfront pavilion, West Palm Beach, Florida has decided to annoy them by playing “Baby Shark” on a loop every night.
Local Parks and Recreation director Leah Rockwell told the Palm Beach Post in an interview published Tuesday that it is important to keep the area clean as people are paying thousands of dollars to use it.
“We want to make sure people paying this money had a facility that was clean and open and continues to use it in the future,” she was quoted as saying.
The pavilion reportedly brings in nearly $240,000 in annual revenue from event fees primarily related to weddings.
Meanwhile, Greater Miami, which includes Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties, is facing an affordable housing crisis, according to the Miami Urban Future Initiative.
A shortage in affordable-housing in Palm Beach County has reportedly resulted in a crisis that has left nearly 1,400 people experiencing homelessness.
While the region currently hosts a massive stock of 2.5 million housing units, only 4% of those residences have been built since 2010 and those available mostly consist of expensive units that not many can afford.
Rockwell admitted that playing kids’ songs on a loop is not a permanent solution, pointing out that the city was focused on addressing the situation.
“Well, I think we need to create more [housing] units,” said Palm Beach County Commissioner Hal Valeche. “I mean that is clearly a goal of ours.”
This might pose as a challenge for the region since President Donald Trump’s most recent federal budget slashed allocations intended for the government’s affordable housing programs.
In the meantime, West Palm Beach might just have to do with playing annoying songs on loop.
Featured image (left) via YouTube/Pinkfong! Kids’ Songs & Stories , (right) YouTube/ABC Action News
