Take the elevator like…adventurous

The worker’s housing area in Kim Chung commune, Dong Anh district has been put into use since 2007 in which there are 4 15-storey buildings including CT1A, CT1B, CT2 and CT3. The housing area was built with the purpose of reducing difficulties in accommodation and living for a large number of workers working in neighboring industrial zones, but it is now seriously degraded, including the elevator system.

Ms. Tinh, who lives on the 15th floor, recounts the pain of taking the elevator

Having rented a 48m2 apartment on the 15th floor of the CT1B unit, Ms. Hoang Thi Tinh returned to her hometown to pick up her elderly mother to look after and take care of her children so that she and her husband could go to work with peace of mind. With the modest income of the couple, Ms. Tinh had to register for the 3rd shift to add some income to support her family of 6 including 2 husband and wife, 3 children and an elderly mother. Two years on the 15th floor of the house, not yet happy to have rented a satisfactory place, she and her family were constantly worried about walking up and down 15 floors when 2 elevators … alternately failed.

The lights on the 15th floor are often like this

Talking to the reporter of Elevator Magazine on the morning of December 28, Ms. Tinh shared that many times her mother had to walk down from the 15th floor to go to the market and then go up, her husband also had to carry the children down the stairs to go. learn. As for her, once she came home from a night shift early in the morning, the elevator broke down, forcing her to walk 15 floors to get to the house. Ms. Tinh’s suffering is also the suffering of hundreds of households of the CT1B unit when it is time to go to work and get out of work, having to queue and squeeze in the cramped elevator.

Mr. T is also a resident of the 15th floor of the building, about 2 weeks ago, at noon, everyone suddenly heard the howling sound of the elevator and the strong shaking, then the elevator broke down and could not be used. Find out whether the elevator is new or the elevator is drifting due to a broken important component, the guide shoe. For many days now, the status light at the door of the 15th floor is always flashing, along with the floor indicator in the cabin that is always on at the 15th and 7th digits, making users sometimes not know which floor to go to…

Mrs. Mao, who lives on the 14th floor, recounts the story of the elevator drifting

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mao on the 14th floor lamented that the house was on a high floor. She couldn’t use the elevator, but she was scared because when she went up and down, the elevator made a horrible howl and vibrated continuously, when walking. If you do not pay attention to the elevator, you will stumble into the cabin wall because this wall is about 6cm higher than the floor. She said that in CT1B and surrounding social housing units, there are households living in, including many elderly people and children, etc. The demand for elevators is great, but because the elevators are broken continuously. has seriously affected the lifestyle and activities of the people. “If one can be repaired, the other one will be damaged, even though I’ve been here for 2 years, it’s rare that the two elevators work well at the same time,” said Mrs. H. It is known that this situation has been repeatedly reported by the people but has not been completely resolved. Many tenant workers here have been forced to find other accommodation despite having to pay higher prices.

Share from the management agency

“To tell you the truth, I’m also afraid to ride the elevator at CT1B’s house”, that is shared by Mr. Tran Kim Cuong, Head of Planning – Engineering Department, Enterprise Management and Development of Social Housing in the discussion. exchange with PV Elevator Magazine on the morning of December 29 at the enterprise’s office in Dong Anh. Mr. Cuong admitted that it is very difficult to overcome the situation that the elevator is howling, shaking and shaking when operating. “However, I make sure the elevators operate absolutely safely,” said Mr. Cuong.

PV Elevator Magazine worked with representatives of Social Housing Development and Management Enterprise

However, when researching the 4 15-storey units of the social housing area, PV found that in addition to 1 elevator of CT1B house, which was completely broken, 5 other units had expired inspection but were still used by people. The house management board did not give any warning to the people. A representative of the house management board said, “We have consulted with the inspector and they said that even though the inspection is over, the elevators can still be used safely (!?)”.

At Hanoi Housing Development and Management Company, Mr. Nguyen Le Minh, Head of Planning and Engineering Department, said that the company has received reports on the deterioration of elevators in the social housing area. . Since mid-2020, the company has reported and made a repair and maintenance plan to submit to the Department of Construction and this plan has been approved in policy. However, until the end of 2021, the plan has not been implemented yet.

Regarding the scale of repairing two elevators of the CT1B house, Mr. Tran Kim Cuong said that to restore the elevator number 2 of the CT1B unit, an amount of about 500-600 million VND is needed, the other (under operation) also needs to be repaired. need repair, replacement cost about 300 million. According to elevator experts, with such money for replacement and repair, the two broken elevators are quite heavy and even the working elevator is difficult to ensure the operating conditions.

Just report and… wait

Through discussions with the authorities in charge of social buildings, we found that they seem to only report, plan and… wait for approval from their superiors. One of the limitations of these agencies is that although they are assigned to manage the zones, they are not allocated funds, do not have the right to spend or implement plans to repair and maintain the houses they manage, even though they are not authorized to do so. are urgent work items such as broken elevator, water system failure, fire fighting, etc.

A total of 5 out of 8 elevators have expired inspection for more than 1 month

The status of the elevators in Dong Anh social housing area is similar to the 26 elevators in Hoang Mai resettlement areas that Elevator Magazine has reflected. It is a seriously degraded condition, most of the elevators are not eligible for operation (the inspection has expired). Recorded at the direct management agencies, the Social Housing Development and Management Enterprise and the Hanoi Housing Development and Management Company are well aware of the deterioration of the housing estates, including the Items that need urgent repair are the elevators. They have reported, planned repair, maintenance, replacement of parts… so that the elevators can be qualified for safe operation. But all are entangled in the approval stage at the Department of Construction and other agencies of Hanoi City.

In fact, in 2018, the Hanoi People’s Committee issued Decision 18/2018/QD-UBND, specifying items that can be “paid for later”, including elevator repair items. But in fact, all agencies directly managing social houses and resettlement apartments have to follow the usual process, which is to plan for many related tasks and wait for approval from all levels. That process through approval levels takes years. Meanwhile, everyday people face dangers when forced to use vehicles that are not qualified to operate.

According to an inspection expert, a car that has expired its inspection but still participates in traffic will be severely fined. Meanwhile, elevators that are classified as vehicles that need to strictly comply with safety conditions, despite the expiration of their inspection, but still be put into use, will be extremely dangerous for users. In that situation, people urgently need more appropriate mechanisms and sanctions from responsible agencies so that they can get rid of the situation of always facing danger when using unqualified elevators. onion.