Almost 30 families from the Padre Mugica neighborhood (ex Villa 31) “were left on the street” due to an error in the demolition of a slab next to their home as part of the urbanization plan carried out by the government of the City of Buenos Aires, and they demand a housing solution from the authorities since they cannot return to their homes since Wednesday.
Some of the people affected were transferred to hotels by the Buenos Aires government, but still many families, with several children and pregnant women, have been waiting two days for a solution under the Illia highway “with what they are wearing” because their belongings were left in the houses that they could not re-enter.
“By a miracle there was no death,” Silvana Olivera told Télama reference in the neighborhood and who is collaborating with the families “that were left on the street”.
The event occurred on Wednesday around 2:00 p.m. when the contractor company of the Buenos Aires government in the demolition works of houses within the framework of the Urbanization Plan, proceeded to pull down a slab -within the planned plan- and ended up causing the collapse of another adjoining slab, which affected a house inhabited by almost 30 families.
“The company was handled in a bad way. There was negligence because they began to demolish with the people next to them. They did not warn that they were going to do it. They were only notified of the imminent danger and the families came out with what they were wearing”reported the referent.
After the collapse, the power cut was ordered and hours later, however, a fire broke out, presumably due to a deficiency in the electrical wiring in the area.
The families They spent Wednesday night in hostels for homeless people in the Lugano neighborhoodbut they returned the next day to be with their pets and take care of their belongings and continue under the Illia highway demanding a concrete housing solution from the government of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
Meanwhile, spokesmen for Ministry of Human Development and Buenos Aires Habitat Télam was informed that last Wednesday, “while they were carrying out home improvement tasks corresponding to one of the houses facing the new sector under the highway for the creation of a public park, a Community Center and a Police Detachment, part of a slab fell and broke the wall of a room located next to the house”.
They specified that the police and the prosecutor’s office “ordered as a precaution, the eviction of the neighboring houses that could present some risk” of collapse.
But at one point “a large amount of smoke was seen coming out of one of the houses due to a fire due to the fact that it would have been generated by a short circuit in an air conditioner and the firefighters put out the fire.”
They explained that the affected residents “were offered to spend the night in a hotel or in the Social Inclusion Centers” and that “they are assisted with lunch, dinner and breakfast, and hygiene items.”
On the other hand, they stated that “their homes were kept under the protection of the City Police to guarantee security, and on the morning of the 19th, the demolition work of the remaining structure and the subsequent removal of the rubble were resumed so that the families They can return to their homes as soon as possible.
Since the incident occurred, the Buenos Aires Undersecretary of Emergency has not allowed these people to return to their homes until the building conditions are guaranteed, said Juan Romero, a reference from Barrio 31 and a worker at local radio station Jala Jala.
In the notification that the public body made in this regard, in fact, it ordered the “total demolition” of the slab on the second floor that caused the collapse of the rest last Wednesday and added that “In order to avoid risk to people and property, it is indicated that none of the neighboring houses be inhabited until the indicated work is done.”
Faced with this scenario, the affected residents made a note addressed to the Buenos Aires authorities where they explained the fact and warned that they remain “without answers” under the Illía highway and demanded an immediate “solution” to their housing problem.
Social organizations and the Ombudsman’s Office are assisting and advising familiesOlivera remarked.
