Wednesday 27 January 2010

Tenants Protests Continue - Adminstration Closed Down

Tenants suspended their occupation of the local housing administration over the weekend and met with the Mayor on Monday. The whole meeting turned out to be just a pretext to get people out of the house and turn off their gas while they were on the way to the meeting. The Mayor promised no help for the majority of residents who would not be able to get replacement housing. 


Prior to the meeting, there was some division amongst the tenants, with some hoping to make their own private deals, most wanting to try dialogue instead of making the protest more radical and a minority who wanted to keep protesting. The meeting made it clear to everyone that the city had no intention of working something out with the tenants and just wanted to pacify them. The response was that tenants went back to protesting.


The housing adminstration responded by shutting down for the rest of the week. Angry tenants protesting outside were joined by people who had come to the office to settle their matters, only to find it closed during office hours.

The Mayor also turned his office into a fortress. 


Despite all this, protests continued. There were a few minor clashes with security.  The housing authority got some posters on it. The tenants are angry but patient - these offices cannot stay closed forever.

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