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Apr 19 - Government Reacts to Mid Harbours Estate Committee Claims

mid harbour estateThe Mid Harbours Estate Committee has expressed their concern to the Government over the dilapidated conditions of the Government rental Estate. The Committee has taken the opportunity to circulate their concerns as they have received no response from the Government, on the matter.

The Committee notes that the Estate contains almost five hundred apartments, ‘most of which’ they add, ‘ are occupied by families of kindred spirit, with a desire to live in a clean and efficiently maintained environment’. They insist that Mid Harbours has become a haven for miscreants, including smugglers and purveyors of everything illegal.

After several attempts to set up a meeting with the Housing Ministry and a year of no response the committee met with caretaker Housing Minister, Paul Balban. The group discussed a number of topics including vandalism and anti social behaviour, littering, slippery garage floors, which the Committee insists nothing has been done to solve. They also make mention of leaky roofs and damaged cars. The Committee insists the owners of which have not been contacted.

With regards to the issue of work to be carried out on the children’s park, the Committee insists that the park needs a high fence with lockable gates installed so that the previous issues of youngsters drinking and smoking in the area late at night, is avoided. The Committee claims that the temporary fence around the park is broached daily by parents and is a health and safety risk.

In a statement released to the press, the Mid Harbours Committee commented, ‘we wish to work together with Government and the Ministry for the betterment of the Estate!  However we look with dismay at the lacklustre, dismally inept approach that the Government has taken to a MULTI MILLION POUND investment of public funds!! We watch as chaos and lawlessness reigns and perpetrators of anti social acts rule because the Government is powerless to act...or has simply turned a blind eye, preferring to bury its head in the shifting sands of politics...’ because it’s not our problem, it’s the previous Government’s!!’ THAT is an old chestnut!!  NOW is the time to step up to the mark and take ACTION!!’.

In response to the Committee’s statement, the Government has issued a notice stating that it was profoundly insensitive and showed a lack of respect for the committee to publish their message on the day that the Housing Minister was buried.

They go on to note that it is misleading for the association to claim that they spent months trying to arrange a meeting with the Ministry as the reason why one was not set up initially was because one person on the Committee is a not a registered tenant of the Estate. The Government goes on to insist that meetings have been offered on various occasions with estate members who are registered tenants. They add, ‘a request for a copy of the Committee’s Constitution and a copy of the agenda for the meeting, the norm in tenant association meetings with the Government, were not met. Despite all this, in February the acting Housing Minister Paul Balban, following the agreement of the Cabinet, agreed to meet the Committee with the unregistered resident included, on a without prejudice basis and as a goodwill gesture. It was agreed in that meeting that the said person would regularise his position within the estate through inclusion in his partner’s tenancy. This has not happened to date.

‘1: The complaint about traffic flow in the garage was, by their own admission, seen to immediately and traffic signs were installed.

2: The complaint about dirt and dog fouling was, again by their own admission, seen to immediately with the Government’s “EL Turno” scheme under which the cleaning of internal communal areas are carried out by a Government appointed cleaning contractor. This scheme was advertised as an electoral commitment during the last general election and has also been given publicity since. It is incredible how anyone genuinely interested in the cleaning issue can claim to know nothing about it.

3: The empty hall is not a housing issue. This was originally planned as a social club when the estate was designed and discussions have been taking place as to its possible use precisely because the Committee are unsure what they would like to use the hall for.

4: The Government reacted immediately by roughing up the existing surface in a specific test area as soon as the issue of skidding vehicles in the garage was highlighted. It should be noted that there is a speed limit in the garage.

5: The problem of the leaking roof and podium relates to the construction process under the previous administration. A full explanation of this issue and the measures already taken to combat it through the Government owned company GJBS was made public last year. The water penetration issue into the garage is now much reduced and at the end of last year only around 30% of water penetration issues remained unresolved. Works are still ongoing in this respect.

6: The Cabinet has already started progressing the installation of cameras in all relevant Government-owned housing estates. Mid Harbours is one of those in which Government is working on plans for the installation of CCTV. Anyone who is concerned that illegal activity may be taking place in Mid Harbours or anywhere else should report the matter to the Royal Gibraltar Police.

7: The maintenance work on the estate is now regularly carried out through GJBS.

8: The playground was dismantled in order to deal with the water penetration issue. The playground equipment has already been refitted, although the exercise equipment is still pending waterproofing of the area. The contractor is working on this at present. It is contradictory to claim that the Government has done nothing, on the one hand, and then complain that a number of different surfaces have been put on the playground in the last few months in order to test the water penetration issue. This shows precisely how much the Government have done and how seriously we take the issue.

9: The Government was presented with a report into the water penetration issues and other problems at Mid Harbours by GJBS and we acted on the report. Indeed, by October of last year the earthquake joint and other joints had been repaired and a waterproof membrane had been installed on top of the slab in the play area.’

The Government insisted that it takes pride in its housing stock and will soon be embarking on major refurbishment of its older housing estates. Provision has now been made for the internal cleaning of communal areas for the first time ever. The Government has also invested considerable time and resources into improving Mid Harbours and will continue to do so. What the Government cannot accept is that a certain individual with a very obvious axe to grind should seek to spread misinformation and distort reality.