COLOMBIA
After Forced Displacement
by Conflict, Relocation by Landslide
By Helda Martínez
CIUDAD BOLIVAR, Colombia (IPS) - More
than 380 families -- some 2,000 people
-- in this vast working-class district
on the fringes of the Colombian capital
that is home to hundreds of thousands of
people displaced by the armed conflict
are to be relocated after landslides
caused by leaking water pipes.
The effects of the leaks in the pipes
carrying water to the more solidly built
homes in the area were compounded by
unexpected heavy rains that cut short a
drought caused by the El Niño weather
phenomenon, which was forecast to last
until August.
Although April and May are generally two
of the rainiest months in Bogotá, this
year the record-breaking rainfall has
left a death toll of 59 so far.
Three mudslides in the Ciudad Bolívar
informal settlement in the hills on the
southeast edge of the capital recently
carried 1,300 cubic metres of earth down
the hillsides, destroying five houses
and burying Carlos Ávila, a 22-year-old
soldier engaged in rescue work in the
area.
Ciudad Bolívar is home to over one
million of the close to 10 million
people living in Bogotá. And an
estimated 10 percent of the people in
the district were displaced from their
homes around the country by the nearly
five-decade civil war.
According to the Consultancy for Human
Rights and Displacement (CODHES), one of
Colombia's most respected human rights
groups, five million people have been
forcibly displaced in Colombia over the
last 25 years, including 2.4 million
between 2002 and 2009.
The largest numbers of internally
displaced persons have fled to Bogotá,
the biggest city in the country, which
offers greater opportunities to make a
living and to seek safety in anonymity,
blending in with the surrounding
communities, according to CODHES.
Another factor that has drawn the
displaced to Ciudad Bolívar is the
solidarity among local residents.
The portions of Ciudad Bolívar that line
the city's southern freeway have
electricity, water, parks and shopping
centres. But the farther up the
hillsides you go, the more precarious
the dwellings.
The streets are not paved, bus service
to the area is limited, and from some
neighbourhoods it takes two hours to get
to central Bogotá.
At the highest point in the
neighbourhood of Caracolí, up near the
top of the hill, is the Santa Bibiana
water tank, which supplies people in
that area and an adjacent neighbourhood.
"The tank has a supply network with
four-inch hoses that people break to get
water," Gerardo Rodríguez, a Ciudad
Bolívar city government engineer, told
IPS.
But the community places the blame for
the leaks on the local government.
"The water company workers took away the
hoses and put in water meters,"
Rosalbina Muñoz, who has lived in
Caracolí for seven years, commented to
IPS. "But they didn't fix the main
pipes, and the leaks caused the
mudslide."
"Take a look just over there and you'll
see the water gushing out," said José
Bulla, who has lived in the area for a
decade. "There's a huge jet of water,
which is a huge waste."
The DPAE, the agency that coordinates
the city's disaster reduction and
emergency response, is keeping a close
eye on 70 at-risk spots in the district,
while moving to relocate the families.
"It's preventive relocation," said
Rodríguez -- although it did not start
until after the first mudslide.
"The first night, people (in the at-risk
areas) were asked to find a place to
stay with family members or friends, and
they were given 120,000 pesos (60
dollars) to cover the initial costs" of
having to move out of their houses,
Viviana Boyacá, spokeswoman for the
Ciudad Bolívar government, told IPS.
"The rest were given shelter in
community centres and a sports complex,"
she explained.
Rodríguez pointed out that "none of the
inhabitants of the area have title
deeds. They have all bought their lots
on the informal market."
According to the procedure put in place
by the DPAE in 2007 for such cases,
people from the upper reaches of
Caracolí are to be relocated with
"integral follow-up and support by the
Secretariat of Social Integration,"
Boyacá said.
That means their rental payments are to
be covered for six months to a year,
before they are assigned "social
housing" -- meaning small, poorly-built
units.
The housing units are assigned by the
Caja de Vivienda Popular, the government
agency in charge of helping to meet
low-income housing needs.
"I want to be moved, because every time
it rains I feel like the mountain is
going to come sliding down on me," Alba
Sánchez, who has lived in the area for
seven years, remarked to IPS. Like her
neighbours, she purchased her small lot
from the so-called "terreneros".
"Some one shows up with some papers,
says 'this lot is mine', sells it, and
that's it," said Bulla.
There are lots for sale next to
Sánchez's home, at the bottom of the
area covered by mud from a landslide.
One six-by-12 square metre lot is going
for five million pesos (2,500 dollars).
The minimum monthly salary in Colombia
is 260 dollars. But few informal sector
workers -- who represent a majority in
Ciudad Bolívar -- earn that much.
"And if it's below the highway, the same
lot costs four or five times that,"
Muñoz pointed out.
The question is why people spend their
scarce savings on hard-to-reach lots
where the danger is imminent and
electricity and water are hard to come
by.
"Because in complex situations, amidst
the pain over the violence suffered and
other difficulties, people are
vulnerable and buy what they shouldn't,"
Aida Muñoz, assistant director of the
city government's local operating
centre, responded to IPS. "They don't
visualise the risks."
The relocation of the families from
Caracolí is set to be completed in June.
But the displaced keep pouring in from
around the country -- and lots and
houses, many in at-risk areas, continue
to be sold. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
