Dear Editor:
As the president of the Swedish Canadian Manor Society, I am concerned by the reporting in Burnaby NOW on Aug. 17 relating to our not-for-profit society.
We acknowledge that there has been an issue with bedbugs in this building, which we continue daily to work at eradicating, and we have devoted considerable resources to combat and resolve the issue together with its tenants and by specialized pest control companies.
The matter is by no means unique as it is widely spread in Greater Vancouver. However, we are not giving up or accepting the problem; the organization intends to continue and intensify its efforts to find the solution to this problem and stop more bedbugs from being brought in to the building.
The following efforts have been made over the last two years to deal with this matter:
* Offering free use of a specially built trailer for heat treatment of furniture, clothes and household items.
* Treatment and ongoing visual monitoring by professional pest management companies of residential suites and common areas, sealing units through caulking of all ingress areas to stop the movement of bedbugs from unit to unit.
* Disposing of furniture brought in by residents that are bug infested and cannot be treated.
* Offering free laundry services to residents who have an infestation to wash clothing and bedding.
* Working closely with B.C. Housing to assist our residents in the treatment of bedbugs.
* Asking our residents to diligently look for bedbugs and if at all possible not to purchase used furniture and clothing from secondhand or recycle stores as bedbug eggs can remain dormant for more than one year.
To control and eliminate these pests, it has to be a combined effort between ourselves as landlords and the residents.
The following is why we, as a board, are concerned by theBurnaby NOWarticle:
The article does not address the bedbug infestation in the context of what the situation is in Greater Vancouver so there is no attempt to explain whether this is common or unusual.
Nor does it address the ways tenants and homeowners can ensure they do not assist in spreading the bedbugs into their homes and around the city, which would have been of benefit to your readers.
The Swedish Canadian Village, a not-for-profit organization, has been in existence since 1947 and is a serious, established and professionally managed organization. It is an important institution with a proud history of providing clean and pleasant homes to moderate- and low-income residents at affordable rents.
We invite your publisher and readers to visit our website, www.swedishcanadian.ca, for more information about us or contact us to arrange a visit and we will be happy to show you our “village.”
Respectfully yours,
Christer Hulten, president,
Swedish Canadian Manor Society
