The promises to solve the problem of the gulley in the Francisco Avendaño urbanization, also known as Los Alacranes, in San Félix, Bolívar State, have come and gone.
By Pableysa Ostos/Corresponsalía lapatilla.com
Once again, its inhabitants denounced irregularities in the containment and repair works that have been carried out in the sector.
Betty Josefina Arias Bauza pointed out that this has not been going on just now, but for years. “We have been living here in sector 3, 17th street in Los Alacranes for 43 years. This is the fourth time that this gulley has opened, and I amb one of those affected.”
“All of us who are around here are affected. I live four houses away from here and everything is in ruins. There are four families in my house. Where are they going to move us out? What is happening here in Los Alacranes is lamentable. We invite them to please come here too, to do the works as quickly as possible, because this is going to fall down,” added the neighbor.
She said that when it rains, the anguish and anxiety increases. “For me it is anguish, imagine those who are around there closer, I think they cannot sleep. If I do not sleep because one feels when it falls, boom, boom. So, what are we going to do? Nobody comes here, whoever came, where is he? What when the houses fall, this cannot be. I mean, they had started some work and now nothing.”
“These works are just sad. The first time it slided there we were left without water for a while, it was (replacement) hose after hose. Are we going to wait for the houses to fall down? My daughters live with me, I live with my mother, so what else are we going to expect? These people who live around, what are we going to expect? For it to fall on us? Is the Government going to come? “, she said.
Alarming
According to estimates by the non governmental organization “Gente Para Servir” in Ciudad Guayana, there are more than 70 sinkholes. Of these, two are active, putting dozens of families at risk who have lived near the sinkholes and active gullies for years.
The representative of the Civil Association Gente Para Servir Caroní (GPS Caroní), Simón Yegres, highlighted that the gullies have been visible for years, with different dimensions and in different parts of the city.
“They have been located, they are quantified. Some time ago we surpassed 70, a figure that we have based on the report presented by Civil Protection (PC). Official agencies in 2015 stated that there were 64, of which five were active. From that moment until now, our NGO has been monitoring the issue, which makes us appreciate the high risk, shows us the vulnerability and that we are not what we had been believing for a long time, that we are the Guayanés Massif,” Yegres commented.
He added that the gullies swallow up the surroundings, there are landslides, they deteriorate the roads, they endanger the stability of the houses and the lives of the people, and the number of gullies that exist slows down the growth of the city.
“Technologically, the solutions are not the same for all. Each one has its peculiarity and depends on the type of soil, the environment it has, where it is located, among other factors.”
They ask for help
Milagro Josefina Villasana Velásquez said: “I live here in the middle of this circumstance that this gully is creating, which has been eating away at it (the ground) for four years. The Government comes and half-covers it up, half-fixes it and leaves it like that. They say that the resources they send from above are not enough for this situation, that the resources they send are not enough for them, they say.”
“They leave the work half done and leave. And they (the gullies) eat, they eat. This is already a den of criminals. This one was a victim of the robbery. The situation is increasingly critical. No one really comes to make a contribution, to help. They don’t take us into account. And well, we call on the Government to help us, because the situation is a wee bit adverse, quite adverse and critical,” added Villasana.
She stressed that they have asked for help, but they (the government agencies) don’t solve it. “I had my door on that side, I had to change it to this side, they robbed me. When it rains, it pours. We live nervously, under a truly mediocre situation.”
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Roger Morillo is a resident of 17th Street in Los Alacranes. His house is one of those on the edge of the abyss. “They have proposed, I think, three cost estimates (to finish) and they still haven’t finished the rainwater channel. I don’t know if they have finished (the estimates), but it is still there, and if I remember correctly they already said that it was 90% done yet you can see that it is in total disrepair. We are here, we really don’t sleep at night when it rains. It is impossible to sleep, we are on the edge with one eye open and one closed, just in case.”
“I live here with my kids, my wife, well, just like the neighbors, she also has her children. The first time they called that they were going to relocate, or something like that, then they said no, they stopped the relocation because it was too expensive for them. Then they said they were going to fix the issue so as not to relocate anyone,” the resident explained.
They hope that they really fix it. “If and when you leave your house, where you are already accustomed to your issues, your habits, your neighbors, and then they say they are going to relocate you to a place where only the wind blows.”
“When these works were going to be carried out, they announced this with great fanfare, they even closed the avenue, which is still closed. The access to enter your house is even worse, because you have to go around more,” he complained.
The truth is that residents of the Los Alacranes sector in San Félix hope that the government’s promises are not just empty words and that, finally, the problem of the gully that is leading them down a path of bitterness will be resolved.