The elevator of the Zaan gallery flat De Helling has been broken for two weeks now. Many seniors live in the flat, some of which find it difficult or impossible to get down. It is certainly not the first time that the elevator fails and that leads to tension and frustration. “I want to get rid of the house. This makes me very nervous,” said resident Jansje Plooijer.
They live there quite nicely and there is nothing wrong with the houses, say Plooijer and her neighbor Jan Rep together. But the faltering elevator does diminish a lot of living pleasure. Rep’s wife has hip problems and cannot use the stairs. Plooijer has COPD. “Last week I was standing by the stairs,” says the resident. “I thought, ‘I’m about to fall down.'”
She continues: “I check every morning how the neighbors are doing. They are ten years older than me. Then I think: ‘it’s too crazy for words, isn’t it?’ If something happens here… I said to Rochdale: if an ambulance comes I’ll have a cherry picker come and you can pay for it Otherwise I’ll withhold my rent We got a rent increase last month, don’t get any crazier. “
Down the stairs with a rollator and all
Another resident shows her how she shuffles down the stairs with a walker and all. “I think it’s scandalous of the housing association. My husband can’t go down at all. It’s been weeks and we don’t hear anything.”
Jan Rep can talk about that. So he called himself and then his daughter. “It was also broken a month ago. Then I just came down with my wife with a walker. That was around 1 pm. But at 8 pm it was still broken. Coincidentally, an old colleague lives downstairs “We could sit there. Finally the three of us supported my wife upstairs. Then my daughter called. She was told: “Why are you so concerned, it’s not that bad that you have to wait? ‘ Well, that’s outrageous isn’t it?”
Text continues under the photo
Rochdale says it takes a long time before the necessary parts are available. Thursday morning the elevator company will get to work to repair it. We do not know whether it is because of the calls from NH Nieuws, but this afternoon (two weeks after the defect) the residents receive a letter from the district manager of Rochdale. “If they need help with something, they can contact him and he can help them with this,” a spokesperson wrote.