Married and the father of four children, aged 3, 10, 13 and 15, the 42-year-old doorman, Gilmar Gonçalves Silvestre Júnior, can barely speak, such is the joy of finally entering his own home. Currently residing in a two-room property at the back of a church, where he works as a caretaker, he has been waiting since 2009 to make his dream of owning his own home come true.
The family has already lived in the house of Gilmar’s mother, mother-in-law and in several other houses, living as a favor or as a caretaker in tight spaces for the family.
“It is very emotional to know that I am now going to enter my apartment. My family, especially my children, are anxious. I have already cried a lot and I confess that I still can’t believe it. It is a dream that, for me, seemed very distant. I thought that this day would never arrive. I’m very happy. These nights I’ve already lost sleep, I wondered if it was real. And the structure around the development is excellent”, he said.
The joy of Gilmar and many other beneficiary families is due to the delivery of 300 units of Residencial Suzano 2, in the municipality of Suzano, metropolitan region of São Paulo, within the Minha Casa, Minha Vida orogram. Another 300 units should be delivered by the end of the first half, after the work was contracted in January 2015, paralyzed in March 2018, again in April 2021 and resumed in February 2022.
The work cost R$ 78.7 million, of which R$ 56.7 million from Caixa’s Residential Leasing Fund and R$ 12 million from the government of São Paulo. Each unit has 50 square meters (m²), two bedrooms, bathroom, living room, kitchen and laundry room.
According to the mayor of Suzano, Rodrigo Ashiuchi, in 2017, there was a queue of 16 thousand families waiting for housing. After an analysis with the State Public Prosecutor’s Office and banking entities, it was found that only 4,000 were real candidates for popular housing.
“From then on, we mapped all the projects that were underway in the city and the situation of each one. We carried out five repossessions in projects that had been occupied irregularly and we continued the works. With the delivery of these projects, including Suzano 2, the line in the municipality drops to less than a thousand people”, said the mayor.
Ashiuchi pointed out that, in addition to the buildings, the city government provided equipment around Suzano 2, such as a 24-hour emergency care unit (UPA), a basic health unit (UBS) and schools, in addition to paving, public lighting and new routes of public transport, security and the possibility and incentive for new companies to settle in the neighborhood.
“We also have a subprefecture to serve the citizen, who will not need to come to the center for any claim. All resources are placed in the neighborhood and in the region. In this way, we have created a new center for generating employment, health, education to serve all families “, said Ashiuchi.
According to Suzano’s Secretary of Urban Planning and Housing, Elvis Vieira, those benefiting from the 600 units meet the criteria defined by Minha Casa, Minha Vida at the time of registration. “Fifty percent of the vacancies were drawn among those registered at that time and 50% went to people residing in risk areas”, he explained.
Elvis Vieira recognizes that the housing challenge is great in the city, but said he hopes that, with the resumption of Minha Casa Minha Vida, Suzano will be able to plan new units to assist in the removal of families that remain in inappropriate places and benefit those that are still in row.
“It is a significant number of families that still need to be removed from risk areas. With the resumption of Minha Casa, Minha Vida, we managed to have a perspective of new units. At the same time, we continue with monitoring and small interventions in these places. What we need now is a pact between the municipality, state and federal government to take action to quickly expand the number of units to be built, because municipalities like Suzano don’t have the resources to build ventures like Suzano 2, for example,” he said. the secretary.
