Roach infested housing Its not human

Roach-infested housing: “It’s not human”

Tenants in Sherbrooke, in the Eastern Townships, are dealing with an infestation of roaches that has been going on for several months in an apartment building and specifically in the home of a lady who has been living with this nightmare for the past two years.

Finding an apartment is far from easy these days, but having an apartment is not everything, it still has to be healthy.

In the drawers, behind the microwave, on the cupboard doors, in the bathroom, cockroaches swarm in Katia Castro’s apartment.

“It lifts my heart. That often makes me hungry. I can’t take it anymore,” testified the one who constantly has a vacuum cleaner handy.

The problem stems from her arrival at this shelter almost two years ago, she said.

She has long asked for an intervention, but nothing is being done.

“It’s not human, we should all be able to live in a healthy place,” the tenant lamented.

TVA Nouvelles learned on Friday that the person who managed the building on behalf of the owner was recently fired.

A new manager took over and in the afternoon an exterminator was on site to assess the situation throughout the building.

“I couldn’t see all the apartments today, but I can tell you that we will put in place an action plan to stop the problem,” said Chad Privé, co-owner of Solution Cimex.

What complicates the work is that the tenants refuse to allow the exterminators to enter. It happened on Friday.

“The key to success is everyone working together. Sometimes bad habits of certain tenants can affect the treatment, so we do a lot of reconnaissance with them,” said Mr. Privé.

“Landlords can apply to the Administrative Housing Tribunal for an emergency permit to enter the property and carry out work needed to combat the infestation for the benefit of all tenants,” said Marc-André Plante, director of public affairs for the Corporation of Quebec Property Owners.

When contacted by telephone by TVA Nouvelles, the owner of the building in question mentioned that such an application would be addressed to the court.