N.B. Housing resident in Blacks Harbour 'disgusted' after seniors went days without water
CBC
A resident of an N.B. Housing seniors' complex in Blacks Harbour is demanding answers and an apology after she and eight other residents in her building were left without water for nearly four days.
Terry James said the water stopped running last Thursday morning after a water main broke, and it wasn't repaired until Monday.
She describes those days as "hell," and said residents heard nothing from the housing corporation while they waited — unable to flush their toilets, clean, shower or cook.
"No communication, none from your landlord telling you what's going on, what they're doing," James said.
James said it was even more infuriating that after four days without water, it took crews three hours to fix the repair when they arrived on Monday morning.
"I'm disgusted with the whole situation," James said.
"Anyone can understand a broken water line. Most people would tolerate easily 24 to 48 hours [of waiting]. At the end of 48 hours though, you start questioning what the hell's going on."
Eastern Charlotte Mayor John Craig said the responsibility to fix the water main fell to N.B. Housing. "To me, it sent a message that the province didn't care," Craig said, explaining the pipe that failed belonged to the housing corporation, not the municipality.
James said she called N.B. Housing after 24 hours with no water and was given no clear status or repair timeline, but she was told there was a "Plan B." "Mid- [Saturday] morning, the Plan B arrived," James said. "Two beautiful new shiny red outhouses. Planted right beside the lobby doors."
"I collected eight buckets of rainwater and I flushed and I cleaned my toilet," she said.
Each unit also received a case of small water bottles on Friday and a large water jug on Saturday.
When workers arrived Monday, James said she asked them why there had been a four-day delay. While James wouldn't identify the workers fixing the water main she said the reason they gave her and other residents shocked her. "They said that [N.B. Housing] wouldn't pay time and a half on the weekend. I said, 'OK, that's on the weekend, but what about Friday?' And he said they didn't have the pipes," James said.
Social Development Minister Jill Green was not made available for an interview. And in an emailed statement to CBC News, Green did not answer questions about why it took four days for the water main to be repaired, or whether overtime pay was a factor in the delay. The statement read: "I'm pleased water has been restored to the building and would like to thank crews who were on-site over the weekend working to repair the water main damage, as well as Housing N.B. staff who provided support and supplies to residents." The building was still under a boil water order until Wednesday evening.
James said she's still waiting for an explanation and an apology.
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