Former Lord Mayor demands that Ritchie visits Village to tackle housing crisis

10.14.59am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 20th Apr 2007

Balmoral Alliance Councillor Tom Ekin

Former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Ekin, has demanded that the new Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie visit the Village area in her first week in office. He state that in the past expectations had been build up, and then the government failed to deliver and he said this must never happen again

The Balmoral Alliance Party Councillor said: "The government have always promised action then failed to deliver for the people in the Village. Ministers have raised expectation then let local people down. I hope that is not what is being done today. Instead of just talking about the matter, its time to deliver real results. The government must set out a realistic plan and prove that they can deliver it.

"The new Minister Margaret Ritchie must visit the Village within her first week in office and we urge her to accept this invitation. These houses have been in a very poor state of repair for years and it is time that real action is taken to make improvements.

"I also want to congratulate the local residents' group on their good campaign. Local people deserve better than their current conditions. They have worked all their lives and many are now retired - they have to put up with terrible living conditions and this is simply unacceptable. The pressure will soon be on Margaret Ritchie to deliver real improvements urgently - she simply must meet this challenge."

ENDS