Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Nov 16/98) - Susan Spring is spitting mad and understandably so.

The manager of the Iqaluit housing authority, she was called to duty last Monday morning to put a dollar figure on the damage someone had done to a vacant apartment that had been almost ready for a new tenant to move into.

In the face of Iqaluit's drastic housing shortage, which has added more than 50 people to the public housing waiting list, Spring said these vandalistic acts just increase the problem.

"People say there is a housing shortage in this town and then someone goes and does this. There was nothing wrong with this house. Somebody could have gone and lived in it this week. It's going to be another four months or so now," said Spring.

She explained that one of her employees had checked the unit with the previous tenant about 5 p.m. on Nov. 5 and, with the exception of one small window and a few bathroom floor tiles that had to be replaced, the bachelor apartment was in good condition.

Maintenance workers showed up the next morning at 8:30 a.m. to begin the minor repairs and were confronted by drastic damage that will cost the housing authority about $10,000 to fix.

"There's no mirror left, there's no cupboards left, there's holes in just about every wall in the building, there's insulation showing. You go up the stairs to approach this apartment, you can see (through) the walls to the next room...there's floor work, windows. It's insane. It's ludicrous," said Spring.

The fire alarm for the four-unit complex had also been ripped off the wall and the locks securing the steel door entrance had been destroyed.

"I was heartbroken. I think it's appalling and I don't know who's responsible for this," grieved Spring, who explained that she was somewhat luckier in a similar case last week.

Three 22-year-old men broke into an occupied unit and were wreaking havoc to the tune of another $10,000 when a neighbour across the street notified the RCMP. The police caught the trio in action and they have since been incarcerated will be responsible for restitution.

But, according to Spring, it's the housing authority that usually gets stuck with the bill.

"I don't know where they think we're going to get the money to repair this. We're just running out of money and all this does is drive us into deficit."

Spring said that because of the funds and labour that have to be poured into cleaning up the vandalism, preventive maintenance like new paint jobs and general repairs to their 407 units have to be put on hold.

She said she was further dismayed by the most recent occurrence because it showed that the incidents are on the rise.

"Tenant damages are a frequent occurrence, but I'd say the last eight to 10 months there's definitely an escalation in it, a lot of wanton damage," said Spring, who figured that 10 units are completely trashed on an annual basis.

Desperate to find answers to the problem, Spring has asked tenants to report any suspicious behaviour and to teach their families to respect property.

"I don't know if it's changes in our community -- more booze, more drugs, more anger -- I don't know what the answer is. I wish I did."