West state homes mostly free from ‘P’
State housing in west Auckland has one of the lowest number of vacant homes contaminated with methamphetamine in Auckland.
Latest figures released by Housing New Zealand showed the Henderson-Massey area had the highest number of west Auckland properties decontaminated for the highly addictive drug, also known as P.
Henderson-Massey had 72 vacant properties in total with nine vacant properties identified with methamphetamine contamination.
The Waitakere Ranges area had 37 vacant houses with one home contaminated by methamphetamine and the Whau Local Board area had six properties where meth was a problem out of 46 in total that were vacant.
There is a total of 4956 state homes in these three west Auckland areas. Nationally there are 2447 vacant state houses with 524 contaminated by meth.
Housing New Zealand will test for methamphetamine when it has reason to suspect a contamination of the drug or if the property is going to be sold. It does not carry out ‘random’ testing on its properties.
A Housing New Zealand spokesperson says if a property is positive with levels above the health ministry guidelines the tenants are not allowed to remain living there.
‘‘Methamphetamine is a growing issue not just for Housing New Zealand, but for our country as a whole, and we’re only now coming to grips with the true impact of the drugs reach through our society.’’
There has been an increase in meth detection as a result of the state housing organisation’s testing processes.
If a house test positive for P it can take months to remedied and costs Housing NZ about $14,000 overall. If the tennant is responsible they are expected to pay for the property to be cleaned and repaired.
SIGNS OF P IN A HOUSE
Brown stains on walls and red or yellow staining on the floors.
Chemical stains around the kitchen sink, laundry, toilet or storm water drains, oily residue on surfaces.
Unusual chemical smells, blocked drains, missing light bulbs, stained glass equipment and cookware.
Drug paraphernalia including glass pipes and needles on the property.