After years of waiting, 684 families will receive apartments built by the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program in Santo Amaro da Purificação, in the Recôncavo Baiano. The works for the two housing complexes were contracted in 2013. Most of the disbursements, according to data made available by the federal government, were made in 2015 and 2016.
However, the practically finished buildings were not occupied and, as a result, they deteriorated and even suffered from theft of electrical installations and finishing pieces. Reforms were necessary so that they can be delivered today (14). Residencial Vida Nova Sacramento has 244 housing units, with an investment of R$14.6 million, and Residencial Vida Nova Santo Amaro I comprises 440 apartments, with an investment of R$26.4 million.
new furniture
“I applied in 2009”, says Rosângela Pires, 54 years old, one of the recipients of one of the new apartments. Living in a house borrowed from a relative, she is now thinking about how she is going to furnish her new home. “I intend to put new furniture in very slowly. Buy with smooth installments, ”she says.
The new home should also be an opportunity to bring the family closer together. “At first, I will live alone. But I’m already planning for my daughter and two grandchildren to come and live with me. Because before there was no possibility. But now the house is spacious: it has two bedrooms, living room, bathroom, kitchen. So, now I can bring the grandchildren closer to me”, he reveals about his plans for the near future.
With her partner Emídio Barbosa, housewife Sandra Cristina dos Santos, 48, also visited the apartment while the condominium underwent the last inspection and cleaning before being handed over to the new residents. “More than ten years I’ve been waiting. I thank God I left,” she says.
Sandra says that she is indebted for the payroll loan offered from Auxílio Brasil, last year, and that she is going to move with the same old furniture. “I don’t have a lot of furniture, but I have some little things. I’ll bring my stuff.” Son Emanuel, 13 years old, is excited about the leisure infrastructure offered on site. “My son was happy because of the courts, he likes football a lot. His dream is to be a player”, he says.
The Ministry of Cities reported that it made a series of efforts in the last 30 days to ensure that the stalled works of Minha Casa, Minha Vida were delivered. The pile of files that arrived last month at the desk of the Housing coordinator at the Santo Amaro Municipal Secretariat for Social Development, Maria da Purificação Ribeiro, confirms this. She says that she waited, throughout last year, for the processes to be sent by Caixa Econômica Federal and now she has to do her best to handle the demand.
no bathroom
The properties intended for Level 1, with income of up to R$ 2,600, serve, according to her, many families in great vulnerability. Ribeiro explains that in the rural areas of the municipality, many people live in mud houses, without access to sanitation or in risk areas. The folder does not have precise data on housing needs in the municipality. However, in the 2015 flood alone, 757 families were displaced, which gives an idea of how many people live in a precarious situation.
As part of the requirements of Minha Casa, Minha Vida, the secretariat will support new residents in the collective organization necessary to manage common spaces. “We are going to guide them to organize themselves as a condominium. There are squares, parks and kiosks that are in common use. So, we will guide how they will use it to preserve that place”, she says.
In addition, as the families’ experiences are very different, Ribeiro points out that it is also necessary to provide guidance on how to deal with the new heritage. “Making people develop a sense of belonging, that that house is theirs. Because many families never had a place. They went from one place to another. They never knew what a toilet, garbage collection is, ”he adds.
