Berlin – Around 90 to 100 tenants from the residential area Heerstraße Nord in Spandau called for better protection against arson at an event on Monday evening. After a series of fires in the houses of the state-owned housing association Gewobag, the tenants reiterated their demand for the reintroduction of a security service, as it had been under the private previous owner of the residential buildings.
As reported, the last time there was a fire on Friday a week ago in the basement of an 18-story high-rise apartment building on Obstallee, which then had to be evacuated. According to Gewobag, there had previously been 13 fires in its holdings in the Heerstraße / Maulbeerallee quarter since March. In some cases, according to Gewobag, arson is assumed. The fires partially caused damage to several apartments and houses that were cut off from electricity and gas. This was accompanied by malfunctions in the elevators, the telephone lines, the Internet connections and the television connection.
Video surveillance brought into conversation
According to participants, the police brought up the introduction of video surveillance at the tenants’ meeting. No representative from Gewobag took part in the event, even though it had been invited. In a letter to the tenants’ council, she justified this with the “pandemic situation”, among other things. The Infection Protection Ordinance, which will apply from December 18, 2021, also allows an event to be held in the open air only under certain conditions. For example, 2G should be observed from 20 participants. “The duty of care for our employees also requires special precautionary measures”, which the company sees as “not guaranteed”. Tenants acknowledged this with boos on Monday evening, according to participants.
Gewobag rejects the reintroduction of a security service. Meanwhile, the tenants are collecting signatures for the reintroduction of the security service. They are to be handed over to the SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh, whose political home is in Spandau, at the beginning of January. The tenants are supported by the Alternative Tenants and Consumer Protection Association (AMV). AMV boss Marcel Eupen reiterated the call for a security service to be introduced on Monday evening. At the same time, he referred to legal hurdles in video surveillance. It is enough if a resident is against it to prevent video surveillance
Displeasure among tenants in the residential area Heerstraße Nord is growing
The state-owned Gewobag acquired the apartments in Spandau as part of a package sale from ADO Properties together with apartments in Reinickendorf on December 1, 2019. Gewobag paid 920 million euros for a total of 5894 apartments and 70 commercial units. After some high additional heating costs, the expiry of a rental discount and slow repairs, Gewobag is facing increasing criticism from residents.