Homeowners located below the Cañada de Guajimíanear Colón street in the Buenos Aires de Herrera neighborhood, in Santo Domingo Oeste, can’t wait to move into the new apartment complex which was inaugurated by President Luis Abinader last Sunday, July 23, as part of the pluvial and sanitary sanitation plan for that ravine.
For years, the residents of this sector have lived through an odyssey due to the flooding of the ravine, as well as the stench of sewage, which carries along with the large amount of garbage that accumulates every day. Already accustomed to coexisting in these conditions of vulnerability, the time has come for them to leave and leave behind that life ‘overflowing’ with vicissitudes.
“Expectations are good and thank God we (families and their neighbors) will soon be in the apartments,” he told Listín Diario, Elena Encarnacion39, from the door of what will be his old home for a while.
Elena Encarnación, resident of Guajimia.
Encarnación, who lives with her husband and two young daughters, signed a contract with the Dominican and Canadian authorities to move into the new “Residencial Guajimía V” housing complex, when they visited the affected neighborhood. There, she will benefit from two-bedroom accommodation.
The houses, located a few meters from the ravine (where the lady lives) are small structures. Some are lined with rusty zinc sheets and others are made of concrete. Many of these are dilapidated as if they were abandoned; however, they are inhabited by impoverished families from that neighborhood. There, they are divided by narrow alleys characterized by putrefied odors.
As part of the census for the “eviction” process, the walls of these homes are markedlarge, with blue and red numbers and letters, type: “CBA-423-1 or CBA-412-1”.
Facade of one of the houses marked: “CBA-412-1”, as part of the eviction process in a town in Cañada de Guajimía
“There is 100% security,” said the owner, who was present at the inauguration ceremony of the residential, with some 200 apartments and an initial investment of at least US$50 million from the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC)a company that helps foreign government buyers take advantage of Canada’s export capabilities through government-to-government contract negotiation and execution.
Ramón Gómez, another owner of one of the houses to be evicted and who is looking forward to receiving his new apartment, pointed out that the authorities “were going to communicate with us during the course (of the week), after the inauguration.”
Ramón Gómez has faith that he will soon be in his new home.
“We have hope and confidence, because the Government has already given the go-ahead. We have faith and trust in God that the process will improve, because as you can see here (the journalist) this is a mess (La Cañada)”, said Gómez, while showing his home built with sheets of zinc old house in which he has lived for 12 years.
“We are waiting on God that this week the promise is fulfilled, that everything goes well, because there are many downpours and many cyclones,” he added excitedly.
The apartments
He new housing project consists of 14 white and blue buildings. At the moment it is uninhabited, and, until Monday, workers were in its facilities.
The apartments are provided with drinking water, a wastewater treatment plant and consist of two and three bedrooms, a living-dining room, kitchen, bathroom and balcony.
restructuring
The intervention of the Cañada de Guajimía is not a topic of today. This project began in the first presidential term of Leonel Fernández in 1996. Later, in the government of Danilo Medina and now Luis Abinader has continued it. Since then, hundreds of community members in that sector have cried out for a solution along with a change of home.