Health inspectors issue cleanup orders for Royal Edward Arms

THUNDER BAY -- The owner of the Royal Edward Arms apartment building says he is working to clean it up and get better control over who gains entry.

Ahsanul Habib has been under pressure from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit to address unsanitary conditions that inspectors recorded during a visit in mid-September.

According to official documents obtained by tbnewswatch.com, the inspection was prompted by a call from Thunder Bay Police who reported "used needles and syringes all over, blood, feces, garbage and derelict conditions," and were concerned about the hazard to human health.

The inspectors took photos to document the state of various parts of the eight-storey building. 

Lee Sieswerda, manager of environmental health for the TBDHU, said in an interview on Thursday that they observed "an abundance of garbage, crack pipes, used needles, blood and other bodily fluids. There were also bedbugs and cockroaches."

Sieswerda said some of the interior doors had been ripped off their hinges, and there was evidence that rooms were being used by squatters or as a shooting gallery by drug users. 

"There was even a pigeon living in an open refrigerator," he said.

The inspectors noted that because the main outside doors were broken, anyone who wished to was able to walk in off the street and shoot up or loiter in common areas.

Building's tenants include children

"The health unit's role is to protect public health," Sieswerda said. "The residents of that building definitely deserve better than what we found.There are children in that building. No one should have to live in conditions like that."

He noted that it is a landlord's responsibility to maintain the common areas and the security of a building.

Orders issued to Habib require him to clean up and secure the building, fix outstanding electrical and fire code violations, and bring in pest control.

The TBDHU also posted a notice at the entrance informing residents, service people and emergency responders about the conditions that they were walking into.

Sieswerda said subsequent inspections, including one conducted Thursday afternoon, have shown "definite progress" in complying with the orders, including the cleanup of most of the garbage and the installation of containers for used needles, as well as repairs to the main door. Efforts have also been made, he said, to control access to the building by posting a security guard.

There remain a few outstanding items in the orders, but the health unit is giving the landlord more time to work through the list.

Sieswerda said the TBDHU is prepared to issue charges if the building is not maintained in a hazard-free manner. "The place does not have to look like the Ritz-Carlton, but it does have to be free of hazards."

Habib has expressed some frustration with the situation, telling a reporter on Thursday that he has people doing weekly cleanups of needles, but when they return the next day, they find that more have been discarded.

He also said the bedbugs and cockroaches were brought in by people who are not his tenants.

According to a health unit document, at least 30 tenants were to be served with eviction notices.

Habib purchased the Royal Edward Arms from the City of Thunder Bay in 2015 with the intention of renovating it for mixed commercial and residential use.