The building was handed over for demolition in September 2019 and finished in May 2020, but it was not until October 2023 when the reconstruction work began.
“We have been through four Reconstruction Commissioners and with none of them did we see any real progress. They changed a lot of the protocols for reviewing and executing the project, the legal procedures, it was too much of a delay. It was not until they assigned us to INVI in February 2023 that we started to make more progress,” explains Rosa Martínez, another of the affected people.
The owner of one of the apartments at Pestalozzi 611 says that in 2019, the then commissioner César Cravioto estimated that the reconstruction would be completed in a year, a year and a half at the most.
“I feel frustrated, disappointed, and mocked because commissioner after commissioner made promises to us that we could almost return to our home. It has not been achieved, we are still waiting. The owners are not only desperate but also financially strapped,” she says.
We have no date to return
Rosa moved to Coapa and recognizes that the rent support given by the capital government – of 4,000 pesos per month that will rise to 5,396 starting in October – is a help, however she points out that it is not enough to cover rent, which in the central area of Mexico City is around 10,000 to 15,000 pesos per month.
Meanwhile, where the building where their home once stood, little progress has been made on laying the foundations for the new construction.
