Czech residential hotels close, 21 people now living in a primary school gym

Yesterday the last tenants in the two residential hotels closing in the Czech town of Ústí nad Labem moved out. According to those who attended the Friday coordination group meeting among representatives of the city, social workers and nonprofit organizations, of the 224 people in need of rehousing, 177 have accommodation arranged and housing for 25 more people was in the process of being sought.

Other activists aiding people with moving away from the facilities confirmed approximately the same numbers to news server Romea.cz. Apartment units in different parts of the city were found for those moving away from the Klíšská residential hotel by Karel Karika, the Vice Mayor of the Ústí nad Labem-město Municipal Department.

“My role was mainly to negotiate with housing providers. I must also emphasize the commitment and dedication of our social workers. The most important thing, however, is the will to do something about the situation,” Karika said in an interview for news server A2larm.cz.

The Romano Jasnica nonprofit organization aided the evictees with moving out on Friday, and Petr Globočník of the Green Party assisted that effort as well. At the Modrá residential hotel, which is not located in Karika’s municipality, not all of the people managed to find new housing.

“Approximately 21 people from the Modrá residential hotel do not yet have accommodation, 12 of whom are children,” a local activist told news server Romea.cz. The city is providing temporary shelter for them in the gymnasium of a primary school in the Předlice quarter.

“The social workers have done a ton of work, I thank them for it. It has been demonstrated that the ugly predictions about how many people would be left to live on the street were just irresponsible speculation. We will naturally continue to follow the situation,” Mayor Věra Nechybová said in a press release Friday before visiting the facilities with Vice Mayor Jiří Madar yesterday.