Every former Club Med squatter who registered with the Bermuda Housing Corporation has been housed, according to the Minister responsible.

Most of those registrants are at the former Wyndham facility on the south shore in Southampton where they are occupying 35 units. Housing Minister Sen. David Burch was not certain on the exact number of tenants there as of yesterday, but said the list included couples and single people. He also said there are additional units at the former hotel site going unused.

“There still is space at Wyndham and we will occupy that space with people on our regular emergency list.”

Not everyone living illegally at Club Med agreed to register as requested and Minister Burch believes those people have found housing on their own.

That notwithstanding, a question from a reporter yesterday suggested squatters continue to live inside the derelict buildings in St. George’s despite the move out order.

Minister Burch responded: “They shan’t be for much longer. I suspect the Ministry of Works and Engineering will move fairly smartly now that they’ve got clearance from us that we have housed everyone there.”

The former Club Med property is slated for demolition. Premier Ewart Brown vowed as recently as last week that the property will become the future home of a new high-end hotel, believed to be operated by the St. Regis group. Developer Carl Bazarian of Bazarian International has said publicly that he plans to transform the deteriorated space into a luxury tourist spot.

Minister Burch also revealed at a Tuesday press conference that the BHC is housing 12 families at the former Pembroke Rest Home. Most of those people were displaced from the Leopards Club after a fire there on January 27.

The Minster told the media he was aware that tenants at both facilities had threatened not to pay rent. He advised there would be no tolerance for that kind of defiance He said: “May I say at the outset that we cannot have folk who are asking for help setting the rules. Not only is there a zero tolerance for non-payment but also for illegal and unsocial activity.”

The initial agreement with the Wyndham owners allow the Government to use the property for three months. It’s expected that term will be extended when needed, but it won’t be extended indefinitely.

Minister Burch said: “Clearly moving them to Wyndham is a temporary situation. We don’t sit on our laurels and not do something in terms of a permanent solution. We’re working on a more permanent solution.”

He would not expand on what solutions are in the works, but revealed they would begin to take shape in as little as a few weeks. The Minister also took a few moments to praise the Hustle Truck — a five-week-old BHC work scheme for labourers. He said it was helping to ensure out-of-work tenants are able to pay rent.

“The success of the Hustle Truck is off the chains,” he said.

“It’s been extremely successful for men and women. It makes sense to us not to have people we house lying around all day when we have a means to provide them with gainful employment and income that can help substantiate their existence. We married the two up.”

Minister Burch said there were plans in the works to expand the Hustle Truck idea with additional units dispatched to the east and west ends of the Island.