Chinanews, August 27. According to the US "World Journal" report, the Cathay Manor in Los Angeles Chinatown is one of the elderly apartments where the most Chinese elderly live.

Recently, the elevator in the apartment was broken for nearly two weeks, and the washing machine was broken for several months, but it has not been repaired.

Many elderly people in their 80s have to climb stairs to go out and have to wash the sheets by hand. Elderly people with limited mobility cannot even buy vegetables, and their lives are difficult.

　　Cathay Pacific Elderly Apartments has 16 floors and 355 households, mostly Chinese elders.

Uncle Lan, who is in his 80s, lives on the 15th floor of the Cathay Pacific Elderly Apartment. On the 25th, he slowly went downstairs from the 15th floor to a nearby market to buy vegetables.

"No one is in charge of this building at all." Uncle Lam said helplessly. Over the years, the elevator in this building often broke down. In the past, it was repaired in about four hours. This time it was broken for two weeks and no one was in charge. The old people have a hard time even wanting to walk around.

Some elderly people with inconvenient mobility simply stay at home.

　　Grandpa Feng, who lives on the third floor, walked slowly to the stairs to get home.

Grandpa Feng, who has lived in the apartment for nearly 18 years, said that the elevator was broken and no one repaired, but he could not go out because of this, so he had to take the stairs.

Although the 86-year-old grandfather Feng moves freely, he still struggles to go up and down the stairs.

He said that when climbing the stairs, he must support the railing next to him in order to climb up and down slowly, otherwise his feet cannot be supported.

In addition to the broken elevator, the washing machine has been broken for several months, but "it (washing machine) has to wash clothes even if it is broken, even if I am over 80 years old, I can only wash clothes and sheets by myself."

　　The fruit stand near the Guotai Senior Man's Apartment is a store often visited by the elderly in the apartment.

The proprietress Ms. Chen said that many elderly residents of the building are her guests. Recently, they discovered that they rarely come out. Only after inquiry did they know that their elevator was broken.

　　A customer told her that the elevator was broken for a long time and no one repaired it. They used to buy more than 20 items at a time. After the elevator broke down, they only dared to buy almost five things because they were afraid that they would not be able to carry them back.

Some elderly people have trouble even walking down the stairs and cannot go out to buy vegetables or buy essential supplies.

In the event of an accident at home for the elderly, a broken elevator will also affect the emergency rescue time of rescuers, which will cause very serious consequences.

　　Another street vendor also said that the whole street knew that the elevator in the Cathay Pacific Elderly Apartments had broken and had not been repaired.

According to the old people living in the apartment, some residents have asked the caretaker many times, but no one came to repair the elevator.

Most elderly people are afraid to report to community agencies, but only to speak privately, because they are afraid that they will be driven out of the apartment, so they can only continue to live in difficult living conditions in silence.

　　The reporter called the person in charge of Cathay Pacific Apartment for the Elderly on the 25th. He said that the apartment has two elevators. Both elevators have been 35 years old, and the old age often breaks down.

The elevator broke down last Thursday (19th) and broke again after being repaired.

They tried to call the original repair company, but the company stopped answering the phone for several days because of the suspected shortage of manpower due to the epidemic.

He had to find a new repair company to take over, hoping to repair the elevator as soon as possible after the new repair company took over.

He said that in the future, he plans to replace the elevators with new ones.

(Xie Yushan)