Asked to act on behalf of residents of a 12-storey Prince George apartment complex besieged by a bedbug infestation, MLA Shirley Bond promises she will get some answers from B.C. Housing and the provincial government that will address those concerns.
Bond, a former provincial health minister, has received at least 13 consent forms over the past week from residents of Victoria Towers on 20th Avenue who want help with the problem.
Many of them fear reprisals from building management staff for airing their complaints about living conditions in the low-income subsidized B.C. Housing complex, Bond said.
“A lot of people were worried about repercussions for standing up and speaking up for themselves, and that’s my job, to represent their concerns, wherever they live,” said Bond.
“It’s hard enough to find a home and it’s not unlike what we’ve seen in the healthcare system, where people are afraid to speak up. Certainly there has been a feeling that they’ve been unheard and they’re worried about any follow-up and impacts from speaking up.”
Bond has written to B.C. Housing and to and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon to let them know of the residents’ concerns over how the bedbug issue has been handled. She is awaiting their responses.
One of the Victoria Towers residents, Terry Slater, said he was accused by management of having brought bedbugs into his bachelor suite through bedding/furniture that was already infested with bugs, but he disputed that account, saying all his furniture was purchased new when he arrived.
“From my perspective, the issue isn’t who or how this happened, the issue is it needs to be fixed and it needs to be taken seriously,” said Bond. “To think people should have to live in their homes with an infestation as significant as this one is completely unacceptable.
“I am very concerned that this issue not a one-week or two-week thing. We are talking about repeat circumstances that have likely been going on for several months."
Several of those who filled out consent forms that were sent to Bond were from residents of the fifth floor. On Wednesday, July 17, all seven suites were professionally treated by an exterminator, Interior Pest Control, contracted by B.C. Housing.
Some residents complained there was inadequate signage to indicate when the building was being treated and that the signs that were posted were taken down immediately after those treatments.
In a Citizen story published on Thursday, Slater spoke about an insufficient emphasis on cleaning of common areas in the building and said residents are being unjustly harassed from building management with the threat of eviction.
“Certainly, residents have shown in my office that they feel they are not treated respectfully by administrators in that building, and what’s important to me is that B.C. Housing gets to the bottom of this and deals with infestation. They also need to deal with the fact these residents do not feel heard and that their concerns are not being taken seriously.
“They had the courage to speak up and tell their story and it shouldn’t take that to get this fixed. The issue is, what is being done to fix it?”
