Thousands of citizens in the Vikundu hills, one of the areas most affected by the March floods in 2015, are reckoning with their lives because of the risk they say they are taking in that locality, now that “São Pedro has opened the taps once more”. The Provincial Government of Benguela is developing a subdivision project, with the aim of reducing the number of families in risk areas
“Get us out of here, we are afraid of the rain”, some of the residents beg the Government, imposing and fearful of the natural elements. The outcry of residents of that locality was captured by this newspaper’s report in what is seen as a kind of “heart of the tragedy” in March, in 2015, following we had been in another area also affected last week.
Living on the hills in Vikundu has become a kind of “mission impossible” and residents say they have been forgotten by the Catumbela Municipal Administration, which is why, at a given moment, this newspaper’s reporter was mistaken for technicians from that local administration body. of State. The brownish vest that the reporter wore – according to what they say – resembled that of Administration staff.
Two years following the second biggest tragedy in Benguela, the first occurring in 1972, technicians from that body were there who, together with the neighborhood coordination, carried out a survey of destroyed houses so that, consequently, the holders might be included in other areas. with better living conditions in the Urbanization of Cabrais, also known as Camuringue. “Oh dad, I’m glad you came, we’re in a bad place here”, began Mrs. Rosa Manuela, who laments the lack of conditions in the area. She is concerned regarding the rains that, for some time now, have once once more been keeping hundreds of residents awake, especially those in the low-lying area, where the volume of water converges.
“All water comes down. It is here, in this field, where we collected our dead in 2015”, the woman pointed to a football field, with no outlet for water, highlighting that this situation has left them besieged, especially when it rains. “Here, when it rains, we get stuck. For example, if it is outside the neighborhood, the person cannot enter”, she adds, who hopes to see the issue of accommodation resolved by the Provincial Government of Benguela.
“The rain that happened worried us a lot. Many houses collapsed once more because of that wind. With a lack of water, all the pipes burst. There are really no conditions here. The Government had to take care of this”, said another interlocutor, Mrs. Sabina Camunda, with a skeptical look of someone who no longer believes in the materialization of promises made, but reminds the Government of its social responsibilities.
“School here is solid. With the rain, the children are studying really badly. We appeal to the Government to look at this situation. We’re afraid of the rain, just get us out of here”, she begs. Residents want to see the promise of years ago materialize, as they are in risk areas, especially because the neighborhood has already been described as being at risk, as evidenced by a sign implemented by the Catumbela Municipal Administration which advises once morest any type of construction in the area.
Anarchic reconstructions
However, some citizens defy the authorities and also test the ‘patience’ of mother nature with anarchic reconstructions. Despite the warnings given, there are citizens who, following their homes were destroyed in 2015, rebuilt them precisely in areas previously devastated by the force of the floods. “Are we going to do more as if, up until now, the Government hadn’t built the houses?”, asks citizen Adelino Abel, who, curiously enough, has bad memories in his subconscious of the fateful month of March 2015. “It was difficult collect the dead here. But now, we need to get out of here. We are afraid of the rain”, said Adelino Abel.
Innocent little ones play in the ponds
Adults express a high level of concern regarding living conditions in the neighborhood, but the same cannot be said regarding the most innocent beings in this life, children. Our report followed them jumping from side to side, aware that adults – including government officials – are responsible for resolving their social problems.
While some went to the improvised sheet metal school to learn the bê-a-bá, in an area adjacent to the football field, others dived into the various pools of water created by the rain falls of the last few days, which claimed the lives of eight people in the cities of Lobito and Catumbela.
This happens because their “science” does not yet allow them to understand what a risk zone actually is. Their play was interrupted for a moment when they found the author of these lines conversing with ladies, in a small water passage, where they were washing clothes. They approached the reporter. Such was the curiosity that ran through their veins, despite the fact that, aged between 4, 5, 6, they did not have an intelligence quotient capable of processing everything around them.
Administrator says the work was illegal
Families resettled in Urbanização dos Cabrais sold their homes to return to Morro On the fateful day of March 11, 2015, when the tragedy occurred, the neighborhood coordination carried out a survey of the houses destroyed by the floods, for the process of lodging them in safer areas. . This responsibility had been assigned to Adelino Isaac, vice-coordinator, who expressed concern regarding the fact that four families – who were given homes in Urbanização dos Cabrais – had abandoned the area, with others even selling it, citing a lack of conditions for habitability, and then returned to Vikundu.
He explained that, at the time, shortly following what happened, only four families had received homes in Urbanização dos Cabrais and, today, hundreds of families are still desperately waiting for homes. “There are people who have houses there in Camuringue and, until now, they do not live there, they have returned to the risk areas once more. At the moment, I control six families that are in this condition”, he reproached, highlighting that awareness campaigns are underway, so that they leave risk areas. “They say that the conditions there are not that good, there is no water and it is very difficult to work,” he says.
Administration “embraces” churches thinking regarding support
The municipal administrator of Catumbela, Kátia Teixeira, recognizes that the Vikundu area was the most devastated by the rains of March 2015, however, she disapproves of construction in areas classified as being at risk. The governor admits the municipality’s weaknesses in this regard, at the same time that she reports on joint actions with religious and civil society entities aimed at guaranteeing a better place to live for the population.
According to Kátia Teixeira, her administration is developing – under the coordination of the Technical Area of the Provincial Government of Benguela – a subdivision project, with the aim of removing a number of families from risk areas. “We still have the issue of people living in risk areas. The Vikundu area was the most affected area in 2015. There is a great need for the population to settle and have a normal housing course”, she considers.
