Elevator regularly out of order, street lighting more dazzling than a declining firefly and haunted by the memory of a fire, the residents of Saint-Georges, rue de la gendarmerie are desperate. Representatives from OPAM came to listen to their grievances.
At 15 rue de la gendarmerie, isolated at the end of a lane paved with cracking tar, not far from the Paillon, stands the residence Saint-Georges. Nine floors backed up against the railway line with a unique panorama: the view of the Nice prison.
When night falls on this rocky outcrop of the Nice HLM archipelago managed by OPAM, it becomes impossible to distinguish. The lighting is defective and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Abandoned car wrecks. Entrance door with broken windows. Automatic garage door regularly vandalized and consequently out of order with the cars parked inside, forced open, scratched. Not to mention the elevator, playing at the yo-yo of malfunction: no sooner repaired, than out of service. Very challenging for elderly people who refuse to climb six or seven floors on foot or only when it is necessary: to buy food with a heavy burden of groceries, and a heavy burden of despair as well.
A tenant testifies: “My daughter was a victim of poor maintenance at Saint-Georges. The elevator was out of order, just like the stairwell lights. She fell. Her glasses broke and a shard entered her eye. She had to undergo surgery. This would never have happened if the elevator and lights were working.”
In Nice, situations like those experienced by the residents are unfortunately not unique to this building. And many cope with it with fatalism, bitterness, and resignation.
On May 24, 2004, a fire struck Saint-Georges. Smoke quickly filled the floors and apartments. The trapped residents panicked and also realized that they could no longer live in a building showing security flaws. This summer, the series of fires in Parisian squats, like a bad remake of what they experienced, resurfaced in them the demand for a better life in their residence.
The tenants are exasperated by their helplessness. They have thus alerted the “powerful” about their daily malaise. Tuesday evening at dusk, Jean-Pierre Mangiapan general councilor and administrator of OPAM, Monsieur Laurent Toulet director of communication of OPAM, and Monsieur Jean-Pierre Roncagalli manager of the park and responsible for Saint Georges spent two hours discussing grievances and two hours listening, understanding, and showing compassion. The three OPAM officials understand that living here daily is not idyllic. They take note, explaining what they can do. “We are here to solve your problems,” declares Laurent Toulet as a leitmotif. But how? Can all problems be solved by OPAM?
In 2005, OPAM spent โฌ63,000 in Saint-Georges just to change the cabin and renovate the elevator system which, despite this, has broken down again… “They came to fix it today, but until when will it work?”, wonders a tenant disillusioned. Such is the life of Saint-Georges… Tuesday evening the despair of the residents of 15 rue de la gendarmerie was heard. OPAM will act in their best interests. Jean-Pierre Mangiapan, Laurent Toulet, and Jean-Pierre Roncagalli promised them. A meeting is scheduled in two weeks for the street lighting. And Nice-Premiรจre will follow up on this matter.
