UUP invites SDLP Minister-Elect for Housing to visit East Belfast
UUP East Belfast Representative Cllr Michael Copeland has written to Margaret Ritchie, Minister Elect for Housing, inviting her to come to East Belfast and witness first hand the lack and condition of public housing available. Mr Copeland currently has somewhere in the region of 2000 cases of people who are effectively homeless or living in sub-standard accommodation.
In his letter Mr Copeland said:
“As you may be aware I am on record as repeatedly stating the case for those in our society who face in many cases insurmountable difficulties in acquiring a place to call home in my own office, we currently have on record over 2000 such cases.
Could I please formally invite you, hopefully before you take up office to visit this constituency in order that I can demonstrate to you the scale of the task, with which you will be confronted?”
In a statement today Mr Copeland added,
“Now that devolution is back on track I trust that the new Executive will address the crisis and shortcomings affecting public housing as a matter of urgency.
Year in, year out the situation gets worse. Repeated calls by myself and others to direct rule ministers prompted real concern, little action and much in the way of platitudes. Now that devolution is set to return on May 8th the new Executive and Minister Elect Ritchie in particular have a golden opportunity to put things right. I hope that she will take me up on my offer and see first hand the damage done to public housing through years of neglect by successive Direct Rule governments.”