The discovery of cracks on the wall ceramics of all the new Seniors’ Centers in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean echoed all the way to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The opening of the houses in Chicoutimi and Alma should not be delayed, but in Roberval, the date is still undetermined.
Even if the Société québécoise des infrastructures and the regional health authorities always affirm that this is essentially an aesthetic and not a structural issue, elected officials wonder why it is not possible to make the necessary corrections more quickly.
These failures, qualified as minor, require work to be carried out in several private bathrooms intended for seniors and in the kitchens.
These places will not be accessible as long as the work is not completed according to the information provided by the CIUSSS du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean at the end of the afternoon on Wednesday.
The minister responsible for the Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean region, Andrée Laforest, also tried to be reassuring.
In a written statement she sent to the media, she said that “there is no need to worry about the structure of the three Elder Houses themselves. Experts carry out the analyzes in order to find the best solutions. […] Officials preferred to postpone the opening of the Roberval house so as not to create additional stress for residents. We prefer to fix everything before the beneficiaries enter. […] But I can tell you that I am following the situation very closely.”
Despite these responses, the health critic for the Parti Québécois does not understand why the opening date of the Maison de Roberval remains undetermined while the schedule for those of Chicoutimi and Alma should be respected.
“If it’s minor, a few days, a few weeks, but when we’re told for an indefinite time that we’re going to try to find a way to solve minor problems, imagine if they were major problems,” said Joël Arsenal.
The construction contract for the three Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Elders’ Homes was awarded to the firm Pomerleau for nearly $200 million.