After weeks of delays, international students finally moved into the containers at the grounds of the former sugar beet factory this week. But some of the units still have no running water and do not appear to have been cleaned.
Translation by Traci White
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that some of the studios were completed on time and had water, electricity and were delivered in clean condition, but not all. Students shared photos of their units in the closed Suikerlaan People Facebook group after finding wood rot, rust, traces of leaks, exposed cables and toilets that do not flush.
De eerste foto’s van de #suikerlaan containers, die na anderhalve maand eindelijk ‘bewoonbaar’ zijn, komen binnen. Houtrot, roest en sporen van lekkage. Hier betalen studenten 500 euro voor, zonder huurbescherming. @univgroningen, @hanze en @roelandvdschaaf, is dit wenselijk? pic.twitter.com/iQdnbHZ3ZD
— Koen Marée (@KoenMaree) October 15, 2018
Dick Janssen of the Rizoem project development company behind the containers told the paper that there are employees on site to help the students take inventory of the issues in the rooms and helping them to straighten them out. Janssen says that the issues should be ironed out by the end of this week.
“Enough is enough”
The students pay 500 euros a month of the containers, which are 12 years old and have been in use in Amsterdam since 2006. The Groninger Studenten Bond (Groningen Student Union) has issued a statement expressing their shock about the condition of the containers. “Students have to clean the rooms themselves before they can move in, and the issues with the rooms have to be fixed immediately”, Jolien Bruinewold wrote. “These units should never have been made available in this condition. These students have already been through so much. Enough is enough.”
The placement of the containers was announced in the summer in an effort to provide temporary housing for international students. The containers were scheduled to be completed by the 1st of October, but their delivery was postponed until mid-October. The students were repaid half a month’s rent due to the delay while they continued living in other short term housing, such as a former school and a hotel boat in the city.
Photo source: Screenshot Dagblad van het Noorden
