AlHijjah 8, 1436, Sep 22, 2015, SPA -- Los Angeles officials on Tuesday called homelessness an "emergency" in the city and proposed spending $100 million to provide permanent housing and shelters for the city's 26,000 indigent, Reuters reported. Mayor Eric Garcetti joined several City Council members in unveiling the plan, which follows an increase in the city's homeless population from just under 23,000 two years ago, according to figures from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The nation's second-largest city has a large share of its homeless, nearly 18,000 people, who live on the streets as opposed to shelters. Officials in New York, the nation's biggest city, say that last year they had about 3,360 people living unsheltered, a number that has decreased compared to a decade ago. The announcement of the $100 million plan, which was introduced to the council on Tuesday, came a day after Garcetti proposed another $13 million in expenditures to tackle homelessness, with a special focus on aiding U.S. military veterans. City Council President Herb Wesson said the $100 million would become available starting in January 2016. -- SPA 00:30 LOCAL TIME 21:30 GMT تغريد
