A TECHNICAL INSPECTION WAS ALSO REQUESTED

Arrecife approves the "urgent" repair of homes at risk of collapse in Valterra

The motion was defended by the councilor of Vecinos Unidos, Andrés Medina, and was approved unanimously

February 16 2018 (11:29 WET)
Arrecife approves the "urgent" repair of houses in danger of collapse in Valterra
Arrecife approves the "urgent" repair of houses in danger of collapse in Valterra

The Arrecife City Council plenary session approved the "urgent" repair of homes at risk of collapse in Valterra. The initiative, which was defended by the councilor of Vecinos Unidos, Andrés Medina, was approved unanimously. In the motion, Medina requested both the mayor and the Department of Housing to urgently carry out repair work on homes that are "in a state of ruin" and to carry out an urgent technical inspection of those that present "serious damage to their structure".

Medina emphasized the situation of some homes, such as the one located at number 18 of Alfonso Spínola street, whose upper floor "has been deteriorating" for "eleven years". "In recent months, the ceiling and one of the walls of the room where three children, aged eleven, nine, and one and a half, sleep have begun to crack," Medina pointed out, who also assured that "when it rains, the room floods and fills with rubble," highlighting that "one of the minors is asthmatic, so they have had to be evacuated to their parents' room."

viviendas valterra 2

The councilor of Vecinos Unidos also mentioned the building located at number 22 of Benito Pérez Armas street, which "is falling to pieces, with the consequent risk for the tenants of the four homes that make it up on its two floors". "So much so that the building is full of props from the entrance to the roof itself. Props that have been placed by its own neighbors," said Andrés Medina, adding that the "most serious" situation is in the homes on the second floor, "whose tenants, two elderly women, have to leave their homes with a case on their heads to protect themselves from the numerous rubble that falls from the ceiling".

"Six years and no work has been carried out"


Medina also noted the "danger of collapse" of the building located at number 26 of Benito Pérez Armas street. "It is much worse, especially on the second floor and on the roof, where huge rubble has fallen," they point out from the formation, from where they indicate that "the same neighbors" have "patched up as they could the scandalous cracks in the ceiling and walls, through which water seeps every time it rains".

Likewise, the councilor of Vecinos Unidos affirmed that the small rains that fell in Arrecife on December 1 "caused the walls of another house to crack even more", located at number 26 of Alfonso Spínola street. "So much so that the bollard came off, which was about to fall on an elderly woman and three relatives. Circumstance that provoked the intervention of the Fire Department," explained Medina, pointing out that the houses "that are on the other side of the park" are "much worse". "Such as the house at Adolfo Topham street nº 28, whose cracks and collapses threaten to spread to the adjacent blocks," he added.

All these homes, Medina explained, are within the 20 contemplated in the process of rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal (ARU). In this regard, he recalled that in 2011 the renovation of 100 homes in Valterra was programmed, a figure that "inexplicably" was reduced to 20 in 2014. "And the truth is that in six years no work has been carried out," pointed out the councilor of Vecinos Unidos, who also requested that it be clarified "what has happened with the economic items that have been allocated for the rehabilitation of homes in the last six years and why they have not been executed".

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