The two lifts in the flat on the Raamveld in Geldrop have been broken since Wednesday. Residents, including seniors, can therefore only go up and down the stairs. A hell of a job, especially if you live on the ninth floor. “This is already the sixth time this year.”
“Good morning,” she says, panting, when Lisette van Veelen encounters a fellow resident on one of the many steps in the apartment. Lisette has put a kind of bag on her dog, so that she can help him upstairs a bit.
“That’s not easy, but lifting is not an option,” says the resident of the apartment. “At 33 kilos, he is too heavy and too old to walk upstairs himself. Climbing stairs is not for him and neither is it for me.”
She laughs a little at the latter, but like a farmer with a toothache. “I have to take the dog out three times a day. Especially going upstairs is a disaster.” She is disappointed with the broken elevators, which she says are not working for the sixth time this year.
“People have been locked up since Wednesday.”
“I find it very annoying and that is putting it mildly. There are people on the ninth floor who absolutely cannot climb stairs. They have been locked up since Wednesday.”
Marianne Vonk lives on the fifth floor. It takes a while before she gets upstairs with her 2-year-old granddaughter. “I lift her and that’s not possible in one go. I have to rest on the third floor.”
She is far from happy. “We received a letter last week stating that we have to pay extra for the service costs. That’s a bit of a surprise.”
“Going to the ninth floor every day is quite a climb.”
“Yes, every day to the ninth floor is quite a climb,” says resident René Bor. “It’s a real tragedy for people with pets and walkers. I think people are forced to stay upstairs now.”
According to him, parts have now been ordered, but that took some effort. “It took a while before the technician came. He couldn’t make the lifts without materials. Then we had to make a quote and order parts… It will take a while before it is made.”
In addition, there was no hot water for a day and a half last week. So a hot shower was out of the question for a while. Despite the troubles, René is not yet thinking about moving. “This is not all pleasant, but the view is good and the people are pleasant. Now we have to suffer for a while, there is nothing else to do.”
The lifts fall under VB&T Rental Agents. The company could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
