They shoot down the street in the evening, run through back gardens and even pop up in living rooms. A rat plague in the Breda Volkswijk Tuinzigt is getting worse and local residents are crazy. The municipality still makes some rat traps, but according to residents, the housing corporation does nothing at all. “If it stays that way, I let go of a hundred rats in their office,” says a desperate resident.
“My son became nine and the garden was full of visitors,” says Francisca IJpelaar from Olmstraat. “Suddenly a rat runs along the legs of my mother and sister. Everyone saw it. Since then nothing has been the same anymore.” Because the living enjoyment in the Tuinzigt district is completely gone for Francisca. “I always lived here with pleasure,” she says. “But if I can sell my house now, I will do it immediately. My children don’t even dare to play in the back garden anymore.”
“My husband woke me up because there was a rat next to me on the couch.”
A tour through the neighborhood shows that the rats in Tuinzigt are no longer just bivouacing in the garden or on the street. They are in the sewer system, between the cavity walls and even run through the living room. “I was sleeping on the couch and my husband woke me up because there was a rat next to me on the couch,” says Colinda Heeren from the Meidoornstraat while showing pictures. “Can you imagine how that feels?”
A little further on comes a Somali local resident in his home with even more evidence. He raises the hose of his washing machine in the air. “Totally broken,” he says. “And at the back of the room they have eaten the entire wallpaper.”
Also in parts of the Pijnboomstraat and Ahornstraat, the rat plague ensures despertion, sadness and anger. According to residents, the cause lies in the underground containers that were placed in the neighborhood a few years ago. They are often full and garbage bags are placed next to it. “That’s a feast for the rats,” says Francisca. “And rat traps hardly help, because those animals are smart. Very smart. They get the food out, but don’t be caught.”
“New residents sometimes don’t understand how to deal with garbage.”
Colinda is behind her house in the firing and punishes another possible cause. In addition, she points to the fence of one of her neighbors. Behind it is the weeds high and the garbage is piling up. “That’s just a paradise for rats,” she says. “The municipality and other authorities know that too, but it will not be cleaned up. I have been calling, begging and warning for three years, but nothing is changing. It is only getting worse.”
And that also causes social unrest in the once so -close working -class neighborhood. “Many new residents are of different origins and do not speak the language,” explains Francisca. “They sometimes do not understand how to deal with household waste and therefore cause many problems. With this kind of things, she has to be helped and get better established.”
“We help the new residents as much as possible. For example, we have recently cleared a garden. But we as a neighborhood cannot only solve this. Especially not with people with psychological complaints. We need the housing foundation for that. It must be a bit stricter for some tenants. We were always ready for each other here in the neighborhood. But now we are divided. And our neighborhood says.
“The problem of the rats in Tuinzigt is known, stubborn and very annoying for the residents,” said spokesman Eva Boon van Wonenbreburg. “In the case of tenant behavior, we address tenants and we are on top of it. However, you also need permission from them, because it is a person’s home.”
But with the residents of Tuinzigt, Housing Corporation WonenBreburg will remain the bitten dog for the time being. “The municipality helps us, gives tips and move falls,” Francisca continues. “But WonenBreburg does nothing at all! They find a smoke inspection to discover holes in the sewer too expensive. And in the meantime the rats are just walking through our houses through that sewer. They can convey diseases, hey.”
And that is exactly what neighborhood resident Colinda is very concerned about. “I have six grandchildren who often come here and I don’t have to think that those little ones pick up a rat that the cat takes inside. Then they get sick and I don’t want that on my conscience.”
“If WonenBreburg does nothing, I let go of a hundred rats in their office.”
WonenBreburg understands the problems, but still refers the residents of Tuinzigt to the municipality of Breda, which they believe is primarily responsible. “In total, we spent around 50,000 euros on pest control in Breda this year alone. And on our website it is clear what tenants should do themselves and for which they can call us and the municipality. The municipality, for example, has the sewer and the underground offers of waste in management.”
Although this week there is finally consultation between the municipality, housing corporation and tenants, the desperation and anger of the residents in Tuinzigt are taking on and larger forms. Actions are already being considered. “My children don’t grow up among rats,” says Francisca. “If this continues, I will be gone. I am almost able to blow up my house.”
“Tuinzigt is no longer the neighborhood in which I grew up,” concludes Colinda. “It has become unlivable. If WonenBreburg does nothing, I buy a hundred rats and let them go in their office. Maybe they will listen.”
Just like the residents of Tuinzigt, do you also suffer from rats in your neighborhood? Let the editors of Omroep Brabant know via [email protected].