DRUGS AID CENTRE FACING CLOSURE 'SCANDAL'

THE government was today accused of "ignoring " hundreds of people in
Belfast whose lives have been blighted by drugs.

It has emerged that East Belfast's only drugs awareness centre is set to
close on Monday after it failed to land a pounds 200,000 government grant.

Devastated staff at the Community Orientated Drugs Awareness (CODA) scheme
on the Newtownards Road had hoped to use the money to secure the centre's
existence in the area for the next three years.

An application for funding was made in January after the government
announced plans to set aside pounds 5m for province-wide initiatives
involved in the battle against drugs.

CODA project manager Sara Tibbs hit out at the decision not to fund the
centre and insisted the scheme was "doomed" unless a rescue package could
be found.

Ms Tibbs also accused the government of "ignoring" hundreds of families in
the east of the city whose lives had been affected by drugs.

"What sort of message does this decision send out to the people of this
community whose families have suffered heartache because of the drugs
problem," she asked.

"Our application for funding was fair compared to what other projects
received and we can't understand why we didn't receive any cash.

"At present we're trying to approach other agencies for funding and we're
hoping someone might bail us out. If this doesn't happen, then east Belfast
will lose out once again."

UUP councillor Jim Rodgers, who is a member of Belfast City Council's
anti-drugs committee, described the government's failure to fund CODA as
"scandalous".

"The decision not to award this group any funding is disgraceful.

"This area has a major drugs problem and we need groups like CODA to keep
the issue of drugs firmly in the spotlight."

Local PUP spokesman Robin Stewart said the news was "terrible" and pleaded
with the government to reconsider its decision.

"Far too many drugs awareness groups in this community have folded because
they've struggled to survive.

The same thing is happening to CODA and this cannot be justified."The
latest development follows a wrangle earlier this year over Ulster's
anti-drugs strategy amid fears that political confusion at Stormont could
lead to anti-drugs workers losing out on funding.