Some residents of a central Edmonton apartment building say they’re frustrated with deteriorating conditions, after going about a week without heat or running water following a fire in a vacant basement suite.
Tenants also say copper piping and wiring have been stripped and stolen from the Parkside Village Square building, which on Thursday showed signs of vandalism and dilapidation: spray-painted doors and windows and holes in the roof.
“It’s gotten really bad in the last year with the homeless coming in, the gangs coming in,” said Shawne Edel, 67, who lives in the building with her roommate, Darlene Lent, also 67.
The building in the McCauley neighbourhood, near 91 Street and 106A Avenue, shows signs of disrepair on the outside and evidence of drug use inside.
Residents say strangers have been squatting.
“We’re intimidated,” Lent said. “There’s people always in the halls. We see only junk. They’re sitting there charging their phones. They have more rights than we do living here.”
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With no baseboard heaters working, some residents are using space heaters to stay warm.
Through tears, Edel said she doesn’t know where to turn.
“We’re seniors, (we) don’t know what to do,” she said.
Another tenant, Dafala Makki, said conditions have deteriorated since the fire in the basement.
The floor of the trashed suite was littered with garbage, drug paraphernalia and a Naloxone overdose reversal kit.
“This fire, since it happened, the heat is cut, plus electricity is being cut, so we’ve been with no running water, no toilet to use — nothing,” Makki told Global News.
While at the property on Thursday, the owner of Parkside Village Square arrived and spoke with Global News.
Like his tenants, Ersen Lika also blamed many of the problems on strangers he said are entering and staying in the building without permission.
“These are not tenants of the building. They are all homeless from the street, coming and destroying, and they ask the owners to bear all the bills,” Lika said.
“We are under attack every day, as you see.”
Lika said police have removed transpassers from the building, only for them to return.
“Police came, two hours, they kick them out, they come back. But look at the damages,” he said.
As if on cue, officers arrived at the apartment building while Global News was there speaking with the owner and residents.
Police wouldn’t say what brought them to Parkside Village Square on Thursday, but they appeared to want to speak with Lika — who insists he is working with EPCOR to restore power and heat to the building.
Utility workers were seen near the property on Thursday.
For tenants, repairs can’t come soon enough.
“They should really help us in this situation so we can live a better life, ’cause this is hard on all of us,” Makki said.
With files from Karen Bartko, Global News
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