A building belonging to the Office municipal d’habitation has been without its only elevator for 8 months now and the situation is causing a lot of trouble for its residents in Quebec.
The situation has been going on since August 8 at Domaine Beauséjour, reserved for people aged 55 and over.
Major work needs to be done. On the other hand, difficulties related to the drilling under the elevator pushed the management of the building to review its plans. Replacement times now stretch until next July when the elevator will be accessible once more.
The management has put in place measures to help tenants, in particular for the transport of groceries, by making people available at certain times of the day.
Despite everything, the situation remains difficult for tenants.
“We are doing what we need to do to be able to deliver the lift. This is a situation that is not really desired. We still had the help of the CIUSSS,” explains Dany Caron, the director general of the OMHQ-SOMHAC.
For residents, the inconvenience varies from person to person.
“There was a lady the other day who had to leave in an ambulance and she was on the fifth floor. They were in trouble, they had to watch out for his arms on the way down. There are several who can’t get out because they stay too high, ”says a lady living in the building.
“Going up the stairs once is difficult for me. I can’t really leave my house to get lunch because it takes me 10, 15, 20 minutes to recover. I’m like in prison at home. I am no longer free to go out and enter as I want,” says a resident.
Financial compensation of $500 per tenant was offered by management. It also undertakes not to increase the amount of rent in July.
