For Two Years, Residents of a Newly Built Municipal Block in Shumen Live in Fear – Crumbling Plaster and Falling Ceilings Threaten the Lives of Children, While the Municipality Appears Incapable of Addressing the Problem.
On April 15, 2023, shortly after the official inauguration of the newly constructed residential building funded by European resources for socially vulnerable citizens, the first incident occurred – a one-year-and-five-month-old baby miraculously survived when the ceiling collapsed onto their crib.
The five-story block, located at 15 Odri Street in the Shumen neighborhood of Trakia, was built for nearly 3 million leva under the Operational Program “Regions in Growth” and was publicly inaugurated in late 2022 by then-mayor Lyubomir Kirov. The project was executed by the company JSP Stil.
Despite the incident two years ago and promises that the builder would carry out repairs, the problems not only remain unaddressed but continue to worsen, as revealed by an investigation by “For the Truth.” The building continues to crack, residents live in fear, and they are unsure whom to turn to for help. “As soon as we hear a creak, we hide under the table,” says a young mother who barely managed to save her child from the falling ceiling.
Children are Startled by Every Noise
Children in the municipal housing are now startled by every sound, as falling plaster has become a daily occurrence. Almost every apartment has issues – walls are cracked and continue to split, floor tiles resonate hollowly, and there are leaks and mold in many places. However, the most frightening aspect is the ceilings that peel away literally in seconds.
“During the night, there was suddenly a loud cracking noise, and I managed to hear it in my half-sleep. I only had time to lie down on top of my child to protect them, and the ceiling came crashing down on us. Thankfully, it fell on my back; otherwise, all the plaster would have fallen on my child’s face while they were sleeping.”
“What is shocking in this case is that the incident occurred after an inspection by a review commission. Due to the numerous problems in the building, in December of last year, the municipality of Shumen, together with the builder, conducted an inspection of all the apartments to determine where repairs were needed.”
“They came here, and there was already a crack forming on the wall in the living room. They saw it, but did nothing. They knocked on the walls and ceilings with a rolling pin, noticed that it resonated hollowly, but just exchanged glances and that was it. Nothing more happened. The following month, the entire ceiling collapsed on us. Only then did workers from the company come and put up drywall,” the woman recounts.
Inaction Can Kill
While the Municipality is clearly unable or unwilling to compel the builder to rectify their substandard work, their inaction could lead to a tragic incident.
In apartment No. 50, the ceiling collapsed onto the beds of two sleeping children. “During the night, we heard a loud cracking and creaking noise; we turned on the light and literally saw the ceiling starting to crack before our eyes. I immediately got the children out of the room, and the ceiling fell right onto their two corner beds,” recounts the woman from apartment 50. The construction company did carry out repairs in the children’s room, installing drywall where the plaster had fallen, but repairs in the living room have yet to be completed. “They checked it, knocked on the ceiling with a rolling pin to see if it was sturdy. They said there were problems in the hallway and that the ceiling might collapse. I asked them, ‘What has to happen? Should we wait for the ceiling to fall on our heads?’ and they responded that there was nothing they could do,” the woman says.
On the evening of March 2nd, the ceiling in the living room cracked all night, and the mother threatens to file a report with the prosecutor’s office because neither the Municipality nor the builder has taken measures to prevent repeated incidents.
The situation is the same in apartment No. 14, where the entire wall in the living room is cracked.
“There was a loud cracking noise, and when I looked, the wall was split from end to end. The plaster is bulging; just a tap on it and it will fall, but no one has come to make repairs,” says the resident of the apartment. Everyone in the building has now learned to walk on tiptoe to avoid dislodging any tiles from the floor and to knock on the walls and ceilings to check when the plaster will fall on their heads. The residents of the block vow to call emergency services at 112 in case of any further incidents.
This chaos has been ongoing for two years with complete inaction on the part of the municipal enterprise “Municipal Housing and Properties” (MHP), which manages the building.
Back in 2023, the enterprise announced that it would ask the builder to carry out repairs in the problematic apartments. The then-director, Plamen Indzhev (who is now the deputy director of the enterprise), submitted a report to the then-mayor of Shumen, Lyubomir Kirov, after the first incidents, and the Municipality appointed a special commission for inspection. Of course, nothing significant happened. The construction company, JSP Stil, repaired the fallen ceiling, and its owner, Stefan Nachev, even stated that there were no issues with the materials used in the construction. Two years later, the problems are evident – the entire block is cracking, and the new mayor of the city, just like the old one, cannot compel Nachev to rectify the defects in the apartments.
Following the inspections by the Municipality, builders came to the block in January and began repairs, but by the end of the month, they disappeared because they were finishing an urgent project elsewhere, explained the residents of the municipal block.
No Sanctions for the Builder
“The Municipality of Shumen has not imposed sanctions on the builder, as the company addressed the deficiencies and defects within the legally established timeframe,” the mayor’s administration responded when asked what penalties had been imposed for the clearly poor construction of the residential building.
The local administration stated that the last inspections in the block were conducted on December 18 and 19 of last year, and defects were found in 23 out of a total of 51 apartments. When asked about the responsibility of the contractor for the clearly poor construction, the Municipality of Shumen said that the builder “addresses the identified deficiencies and defects within the legally stipulated warranty periods,” and thus, by law, no sanctions could be imposed on them. In response to the question about what the Municipality of Shumen is doing to resolve the issue and why the building problems have persisted for two years, the administration responded formally: “All measures provided for in the Spatial Development Act (ZUT) and Regulation No. 2 of July 31, 2003, on the commissioning of construction works in the Republic of Bulgaria and minimum warranty periods for completed construction and installation works, facilities, and construction projects are being undertaken.”
The municipal block with 51 apartments was officially inaugurated in Shumen at the end of 2022. The building was constructed with nearly 3 million leva under the Operational Program “Regions in Growth,” with an additional funding of about 80,000 leva from the municipal budget. Construction was completed at the end of 2021, and the then-mayor, current deputy, and regional chairman of GERB, Lyubomir Kirov, even organized a special tour for local journalists to showcase the new municipal acquisition.
The current administration can only hope that a tragic incident does not occur, while in the meantime, the parking lot in front of the block is starting to cave in. But as it has become clear, there are no sanctions, and the situation can be summed up with the “winged” phrase of GERB leader Boyko Borissov: “Whatever happened, it will be as it was again…”
