The presidential delegate in the Valparaíso Region, Sofía González, took stock this Wednesday 12 days after the start of the deadly forest fires and confirmed that there will be relocated victims, although she guaranteed that there will be “a pool of possibilities that can be chosen by the families and that in this way they adjust to their reality.”
“We have the great challenge of reconstruction, which clearly has to look outside the box considering the level of impact and that we have to move as quickly as possible to respond to the families,” stated the authority interviewed by El Diario de Cooperativa.
On Monday, the Reconstruction Committee began to meet, a body entrusted by President Gabriel Boric and headed by the Minister of Social Development, Javiera Toro, to plan and implement a plan for Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Limache and Villa Alemana.
The fires burned at least 9,000 hectares and have left, according to official figures that are not yet closed, 132 confirmed deaths and some 12,000 homes destroyed.
“No, it is not possible for it to be like that,” said González when asked if all the destroyed houses can be rebuilt in the same place where they were located.
The regional delegate warned that “when we are talking about a fire of 8,000 to 9,000 hectares affected, when we are talking about a fire of that magnitude, we are talking about absolutely different realities; We are talking about neighborhoods that have been consolidated neighborhoods, regularized neighborhoods, neighborhoods that were in the Minvu camp registry and that had a relocation or settlement plan – that is, they stayed there because conditions existed or, failing that, that they had to be looked for elsewhere. There are others (irregular settlements) that were to be registered by the Minvu, in addition to others that are incipient settlements. “There are at least four or five different realities.”
Under this point, González emphasized that “what the President has entrusted to us is that the proposal made regarding reconstruction responds to each of those needs, to each of those realities, within the framework of our institutionality.”
“The important thing here,” he assured, “is that this is a plan that also has to be done in coordination with the communities, the municipalities, the Regional Government and institutions, both national and international.”
Asked about the resistance that relocation could generate in the affected populations, the delegate pointed out that “in a catastrophe of this level there can always be difficulties and that is why the most important thing is the communication that the authority or the Government has with the communities. ”.
Regarding the steps to follow, González highlighted that “now there are different processes coming. We are currently arriving with recovery bonuses; “There are 4,249 payments that we have already made in a period of 10 days.”
“Yesterday we paid the second payroll and on Friday we will go with the next one, of a total of more than 7,000 fibes that could be made in a fairly limited time,” he noted.
“After that, then come the alternatives in terms of temporary habitability. And for that we are also going to have a pool of possibilities that can be chosen by families and that in this way adjust to their reality,” he promised.