Czech housing estate inhabited mostly by Romani tenants lacks heat and hot water
The inhabitants of a housing estate in the town of Šluknov in the Děčín area have long been bothered by dysfunctional heating and a lack of hot water. The renters, who are frequently families with children, are living in units where the temperature is just 15 degrees Celsius during freezing weather.
One tenant who did not want his name publicized has informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK) that the buildings have outdated boilers that run on coal and wood. According to him, the fires are not lit in the boilers most of the time.
The owner of the buildings, Pavel Zeithammer, has told ČTK those allegations are deceptive. According to him, the apartments have heat.
“This has been going on for eight years, maybe even more. The boilers are there, but they are old. We even had a 14-day shutdown to replace them, but they never put any new ones in,” the tenant said.
The tenant says he has mold in his apartment and that some units also have bedbugs. When the inhabitants of the buildings complain, the administrator and owner are arrogant.
“I have been dealing with the fact that I have mold in the apartment and my children are sick every month. That becomes a problem at the doctor’s too, because they believe we are neglecting the children. We attempted speaking directly with the owner about this. He talked down to me…” the tenant described Zeithammer’s behavior.
According to this renter, the owner is also threatening the tenants with eviction, another reason he does not want his name published. A single-bedroom unit rents for about CZK 10,000 [EUR 415] per month on the estate.
“They just raised our utilities by CZK 1,000 [EUR 40]. They raised the cost of hot water from CZK 2,500 [EUR 100] to CZK 3,000 [EUR 125],” the renter says, adding that he believes this price does not correspond to the actual situation.
Most of the renters in the buildings are Romani. Most do not want to move elsewhere, as there are not so many apartments available in the small town and they don’t want to end up on the street, according to the tenant.
The municipality is dealing with the situation and wants to meet with the owner, but Zeithammer excused himself from one planned meeting. “Our audit department will go there next and we will approach this further within the framework of legislation,” Mayor Tomáš Kolonečný (Mayors and Independents – STAN) told ČTK.
The renter pointed out that the owner does heat the boilers during scheduled meetings. “Normally he heats with wood from time to time, but if somebody is meant to come there, he uses coal,” he said.
Public broadcaster Czech Television has already drawn attention to the problem in Šluknov. Zeithammer is insisting to ČTK that the apartments are heated.
“We had a problem in one building, the boiler wasn’t working for two or three days. It’s not the case that the heat is off for months there,” the owner said.
