Cabinet could soon agree to push ahead with plans to build a new shelter for homeless people, according to the Minister for Social Rehabilitation.

A scheme for a new Salvation Army shelter was first announced under former Premier Alex Scott in 2005 but has foundered amid discussions over the timetable for building as well as whether other social programmes, such as counselling, should be included.

But now Minister Dale Butler is hopeful the scheme could soon press ahead and said: "I am hoping in the next couple of weeks we will have a Cabinet paper about the next steps, such as planning approval. Some big decisions should be made in the next couple of weeks."

It comes after a severely decomposed body was discovered across from Victor Scott Primary School on Glebe Road, Pembroke, on Saturday. The Royal Gazette understands the deceased was an elderly person, of no fixed abode.

Mr. Butler said the discovery of the body underscored the need for a facility with a programme in place to assist people who "fall through the cracks".

"It seems to happen every two to three years," he said speaking of the discovery. "We have a number of people who are well known, you see them walking around town asking for a dollar.

"When you don't see them for a while you normally read in the paper that they were locked up. But every few years you hear about an incident like this.

"Some people just drop out of society, they don't want any help and many of them are estranged from their families."

He said preliminary designs on a new emergency housing complex have been completed. Original plans predicted that the construction would not be finished until 2011, something the Government was not happy about, Mr. Butler said.

"They asked us to go back and see if we could finish it earlier," he said. "But the Ministry of Works and Engineering could not find a way to do it faster, especially because it is on marsh land.

And he hopes that a new Salvation Army emergency housing complex would include a programme to provide counselling and make the transition easier for homeless people looking to rejoin society.

"The Permanent Secretary has just been to Calgary looking at their facilities," he said. "We want to have a programme with the shelter to help people instead of just house them so the Permanent Secretary looked at the programme provided in Calgary."

A Cabinet Paper will be presented to the Government in the next few weeks before any decisions are made about the next step in the process, and Mr. Butler said the Government would be funding the construction of the new facility.

The current facility houses approximately 60 people and is 30 years old.

Salvation Army boss Major Doug Lewis said he was excited about the project moving forward.

"We have had on going dialogue with the Minister about the facility," he said. "We are in a difficult situation with the current facility being very run down.

"We've been in a rock and a hard place when it comes to how much to spend on repairs when it could be ripped down at some point. We know that it is in the planning stages and it's great news that it is moving forward."

He added: "We provide a service that the community needs. They may not know they need it, because out of sight out of mind, but they need it.

"The discovery of the body brings the issue back to the forefront of people's minds. There are more people who are homeless and require our help than people think.

"But we want to do more than just house them, we want to help them change their lives. It's important to have a programme in place that will assist them."

Forensic tests on the body discovered at 2 p.m. on Saturday ruled out foul play as the cause of death. Police are not revealing any more details, such as the length of time the body lay in the bamboo patch next to Glebe Road, until more tests have been done and the next of kin have been notified.

The Salvation Army emergency housing complex was built 30 years ago as a temporary measure to deal with housing issues.

It was not expected to last more than 15 years. Plans to revamp the existing building were first mooted in December 2000.

In 2005 former Premier Alex Scott set aside $28 million toward the project in 2005 and said: "The Bermuda Government continues to support the Salvation Army by providing substantial funding for the Life Skills Programme, Harbour Light and Emergency Housing Complex. During the 2005/06 financial year, Government is providing $747,170 to fund these programmes.