23 September 1999 Edition
High-rise Brits must go
A block of flats in the New Lodge area of North Belfast is awash with sewage because British soldiers have destroyed the drainage system.
The spy-post and billet on top of the 11-storey Méadbh House building was built on the drains, blocking them, and when the British post flooded, British soldiers broke open the walls of the drains to release the water.
The result is that there is a constant stream of dampness running down the walls of the flats, affecting over 100 families. However, with the heavy rain of the past week the problem has been exacerbated, sewage has been running down the walls, destroying wallpaper and seeping into baths.
Residents have complained that, as well as their homes being destroyed, the urine and sewage is making their homes a health hazard. Some residents now say they have no choice but to move out.
Speaking to An Phoblacht at a protest outside the flats on Tuesday 21 September, Sinn Fein's Gerard Brophy said that the onus is on the Housing Executive to ``sort the problem out''.
Said Brophy: ``The British army have prevented repair work being done and have effectively blocked a major repair scheme going ahead. The Executive's officers for the area must now either rehouse all the tenants or force the British army to quit the flats''.
One resident, Eilish Magee, told An Phoblacht that she is now claiming against the Housing Executive as a result of a fall she had in March due to the flooding in her third story flat. In the latest flooding, her bathroom, hall and kitchen have been destroyed.
The British army have had a billet on the New Lodge flats from July 1972. Brophy says it's high time they moved.
The spy-post and billet on top of the 11-storey Méadbh House building was built on the drains, blocking them, and when the British post flooded, British soldiers broke open the walls of the drains to release the water.
The result is that there is a constant stream of dampness running down the walls of the flats, affecting over 100 families. However, with the heavy rain of the past week the problem has been exacerbated, sewage has been running down the walls, destroying wallpaper and seeping into baths.
Residents have complained that, as well as their homes being destroyed, the urine and sewage is making their homes a health hazard. Some residents now say they have no choice but to move out.
Speaking to An Phoblacht at a protest outside the flats on Tuesday 21 September, Sinn Fein's Gerard Brophy said that the onus is on the Housing Executive to ``sort the problem out''.
Said Brophy: ``The British army have prevented repair work being done and have effectively blocked a major repair scheme going ahead. The Executive's officers for the area must now either rehouse all the tenants or force the British army to quit the flats''.
One resident, Eilish Magee, told An Phoblacht that she is now claiming against the Housing Executive as a result of a fall she had in March due to the flooding in her third story flat. In the latest flooding, her bathroom, hall and kitchen have been destroyed.
The British army have had a billet on the New Lodge flats from July 1972. Brophy says it's high time they moved.