Thaw: Emergency plan needed to deal with burst pipes, heating and water

Jennifer McCann MLA

AN EMERGENCY PLAN by Social Development Minister Alex Attwood is needed to help huge numbers of people who have no heat or water in their homes or dealing with flooding from burst pipes, Sinn Féin MLA Jennifer McCann has said.

The West Belfast MLA said on Monday:

We have received a number of pressing complaints  from residents who have been without heat or water in their homes for almost a week now.

From Christmas Eve, several of those affected – many of them pensioners, alongside people with  health problems or disabilities – now have the added problem of flooding due to burst pipes.

In one case the ceiling fell in on top of a family whose father recently suffered a stroke and it was sheer luck no one was seriously injured.

The emergency repair service contracted to work for the Housing Executive is not dealing with the situation at all.

They are no longer taking calls or allowing you to switch to voice-mail despite this being the only way people have to report emergencies.

This is totally unacceptable and I am calling on Social Development Minister Alex Attwood to ensure that there is an adequate service put in place immediately for people to report emergencies and have those emergencies dealt with.