Brazil: Rio’s governor wants to build 1,000 homes in Petrópolis

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The construction of 1,000 homes may begin this year in Petrópolis to help relocate the hundreds of families who lost their homes in the last flood. The resources will come through actions of the federal government, according to what Rio de Janeiro State governor, Cláudio Castro, said on Tuesday, March 15.

“I went to the Minister [of Regional Development] Rogério Marinho, he promised 1,000 units. The state secretary of Infrastructure is already negotiating with him the land. The idea is 1,000 units. It is not a project that will be finished in a year. But we are already going to bid everything and start the construction work, to deliver it as soon as possible,” said the governor.

Cláudio Castro, who personally experienced the tragedy in Petrópolis, where he spent several days during the rescue work of the victims, recalled that there is a large housing deficit, especially in the municipalities of the mountains, which had already suffered other tragedies with the rains, such as Teresópolis and Nova Friburgo, hit in 2011, when more than 900 people died.

“In Friburgo, we have now finished all the works from the other crisis. The ones in Teresópolis have also advanced a lot, still from the other [flood]. And we will start now, until the end of the first semester, the construction of 350 houses from the other tragedy. So, 11 years later, now the government starts to deliver what should have been delivered a long time ago”, Castro acknowledged.

According to the governor, in Petrópolis alone, studies indicate that there are 25,000 houses built in risk locations. The city is essentially mountainous, with few flat areas, and the population, over the years, has been occupying the hillsides. It contributed to tragedies such as those that occurred a month ago at Morro da Oficina and elsewhere in the city, causing 233 deaths and four missing persons after heavy rains on February 15.

The governor spoke to the press during a mass commemorating the 30 days since the tragedy, held in the gardens of Guanabara Palace when medals were awarded to the firefighters and other public agents who worked at the scene.

With information from Agência Brasil