Blacks Harbour Residents Go Without Running Water for 5 Days at Subsidized Housing Complex

Residents of a subsidized housing unit on Citizen Street in Blacks Harbour endured five days without running water after a water main break late on Thursday with NB Housing finally fixing the broken pipe on Monday.

"It's been rough. I have severe anxiety problems anyway, so it just added to it. So it's been really rough," said Kenny Beany who has lived in the Citizen Street apartment complex for approximately three years. 

"They have left us six days with no water, no sewage--it's bad enough to lose your water, but when you can't flush your toilet..." said building tenant Terri James who is also the former Mayor of Blacks Harbour.  "The other day I went out, I collected eight buckets of rainwater. I was able to flush my toilet and clean it properly. But the total lack of communication from Housing to their tenants is scandalous." 

Eastern Charlotte Mayor John Craig has slammed NB Housing for what he says was a lackluster response to a dire housing situation in a rural area at a building with mostly seniors as residents.

"The people that NB Housing had contracted were not willing to do the job on Friday, so the folks in this building had to wait until Monday for water to be hooked up," said Mayor Craig.

Despite the municipality's readiness to assist, Mayor Craig says NB Housing's efforts fell short, providing what Craig believes were insufficient amounts of bottled water and unacceptable temporary solutions like installing two outdoor porta-potties near the front entrance to the building.

"What they did within the first 48 hours of this problem--they told us that they were going to help the people of this building," said Craig. "What they did for help was that they brought everybody in this building a case of water--those 24 packs of water, the small bottles you pick up--that's what these people got, one case per room in this building to let them go all weekend long."

Craig also criticized the Department of Social Development for not notifying local MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason about the situation before the weekend and also for not providing residents with hotel rooms. In a statement to CHCO, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development said, "The corporation’s priority is always the safety and wellbeing of our clients and community. HNB staff have been on-site throughout the repairs, providing support to residents, including providing bottled water and restroom facilities."

Mayor Craig said he is pleased the problem is fixed but that he worries for the next time an incident like this occurs in a rural area.