Elderly unable to use working lift
Offers of assistance to fix the lift came in from several companies and individuals.
THE saga at Silwerkroon retirement village that is run by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, continues.
Since June of 2017, the elderly residents of Silwerkroon have been without a working lift and the municipality has promised virtually every month that it will be fixed.
Offers of assistance to fix the lift came in from several companies and individuals. In addition, one company even offered to service the lift for a full year after they repaired the lift free of charge.
The EMM refused all of these offers for insurance purposes, in spite of these good Samaritans saying they would take full responsibility by signing anything in terms of liability and would give assurances.
EMM also claimed throughout that the whole lift needed to be replaced at an astronomical cost. However, at the last minute, they seemed to change their mind and ended up repairing the lift, but locked it up so nobody could use it, saying it needed to be inspected before it would be ready for use in December of 2017.
Now the new year has come and gone and still, the poor people at Silwerkroon are forced to use the stairs, with their bad joints and all while those in wheelchairs and walkers are out of luck altogether.
A source involved with the issue says the reason for the lift not being used is that the municipality hasn’t paid for the repairs, so the company who did the repairs will not sign off on it until they are paid.
“The poor elderly people have been prisoners for seven months already and now when the lift is finally fixed, they still can’t use it – it’s ridiculous,” said alderman Bruna Haipel, the ward councillor who has been working on getting the issue resolved.
RECORD contacted the EMM for comment, but had received no comment at the time of publishing.
Also Read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/alberton-record/162562/silwerkroon-lift-saga-continues/
https://www.citizen.co.za/alberton-record/162161/silwerkroon-residents-still-await-the-promised-lift/
https://www.citizen.co.za/alberton-record/157640/no-relief-for-stranded-silwerkroon-residents/
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