Residents trapped in their homes

LANTERN Heath residents have been grounded after lifts in the building broke down, a problem they say that has been going on for years.

Residents, who wished to remain anonymous, said despite valid attempts by the building's trustees to keep the lifts maintained, they keep breaking down forcing some residents being made prisoners in their own homes.

A resident living on the sixth floor said she battled with asthma and emphysema, neck pain and blocked carotid arteries, and wasn't able to go up and down the stairs in the building.

“It's such a schlep, I can't afford to pay someone to go to the shops for me as I am a pensioner. I pay my levies and expect things to be function,” she said.

A fifth floor resident said cleaners had to take the rubbish down the flights of stairs, which took hours.

“They have to lug the bins down from the seventh, eighth and ninth floors, and the bins are damaging the stairs. We shouldn't have to live like this. My mother has a spine problem and can't go down the stairs, so she is stuck in the flat. There is a man living on the second floor who is wheelchair bound and also can't get out,” she said.

A woman living on the sixth floor has a son with cerebral palsy, who has been unable to go to school as she can't get him down the stairs in his wheelchair.

“I battled for a long time to get my son into a school and I'm worried they are going to think I don't want him there anymore, as he hasn't been to school in a while. He loves going out and seeing people, now I can't even get him to church. He has to stay inside all the time, and I don't get time for myself, which I would if he was at school. We're suffering, even though we pay our rent monthly,” she said.

“We can't manage without a lift, it is a major problem. It's terrible living here, we pay our levies but have no joy. We couldn't buy groceries this month as we can't bring them up eight floors,” said a resident.

She said the trustees weren't doing anything, and the building was in a filthy state.

“They say they are doing something but we are not seeing it. There are no improvements to the state of the building from one year to the next. It's a good building, it's very conveniently situated, but there's no proper maintenance, it's bad. Our roof hasn't been properly fixed and birds are still getting in, there are maggots around because of the dirt. We are living under very unhygienic conditions,” she said.

The resident said she felt the lifts should be supervised every six months.

“We have a new contractor but the lifts haven't been working properly. They should always be running in a high rise block like this,” said the resident.

In response to residents’ complaints, chairperson of the trustees, Angie Stephen, said many residents and people of Lantern Heath are being misinformed concerning the lifts and other service deliveries. She said the lift has been functioning well for the past eight years without major problems with previous lift companies.

“The lifts are very old and needed to be upgraded completely. In order to do this, we would need to raise a special levy, but the owners don’t want this imposed on them. Quotes for new lifts have come in at around R2 million which is too expensive for people living here. We’re doing the best we can. We have engaged a company who we will pay a monthly fee to get a lift running,” she said.

Regarding the state of the building, she said the trustees had a cleaning company which would see to the block.