The people who live at a seniors’ complex on George Street in Sydney, N.S., are fed up with what they suspect to be a bedbug problem. “Bites,” said resident Linda Smith. “They’re in our chairs. They’re in our beds. They’re on our floor.” Smith, 72, has marks on her arms she said are from scratching. She has been living in the building for 10 years and said the bedbugs have been affecting her quality of life for roughly the past two of them. “We can’t even go to our families’ places and they won’t come here,” she said. Wendy Cohen-Ross has been in the building only eight months. “I don’t have them - so they tell me - but I’m surrounded by them,” she said. Cohen-Ross said she moved to the complex because it was affordable but finds herself regularly worried that her unit might become infested. “I’m forever scratching,” she said. “I’m in bed, I don’t sleep because I’m thinking ‘Oh my God, there’s a bug in my bed.’ It’s not nice. It’s not what I’m paying rent for.” The area’s MLA, Liberal Derek Mombourquette, said he had a community meeting with residents on site not long ago and brought their concerns to Provincial Housing. “My office works very closely with Housing,” Mombourquette said. “We are in this case.” Mombourquette added he was told the building was inspected after he brought forward residents’ complaints and he expects to hear back soon. “Those reports will come back,” he said. “I talked to Housing again (Wednesday) afternoon and they said, ‘We are going to take all the measures we can.’” In a late afternoon email on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency said when concerns about bedbugs are reported, they take actions including unit and building inspections, baseboard treatment, proactive treatment of surrounding units including spraying and specialized heat and follow-up inspections. The residents at 955 George St. said all they have seen is the building getting sprayed every two weeks. “Fix it,” Cohen-Ross said. “Do better. Fix the problem.” Mombourquette said he plans to continue speaking with residents and Provincial Housing to try and find a solution. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
