Caracas (theassemblymedia.com) — Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez says authorities rehabilitated 2,422 homes and delivered 700 newly built houses across six states during the first 100 days of the country’s post-earthquake recovery plan.
The government has also completed repairs to 686 homes in La Guaira, the state hardest hit by the two earthquakes that struck on June 24, benefiting 3,358 people. Work is continuing on another 20,083 homes across three states, Rodríguez said while presenting the latest figures for the Venezuela Renace (Venezuela Reborn) program.
Completed rehabilitation projects in Caracas and the states of La Guaira, Miranda, and Aragua have benefited 8,862 people. The government has also issued 461 loans to condominium associations for repairs to residential buildings and shared areas, benefiting 16,172 families.
In Ciudad Caribia, a large urban social housing complex 22 kilometers from Caracas that was built by the former Hugo Chávez government, construction is underway on 3,000 temporary single-family homes. Twenty-seven percent of the work is complete, and the government’s broader goal is to build 6,000 homes through the program.
Thousands of people, however, remain in temporary accommodation. Authorities have relocated 7,336 people and closed 30 temporary camps, but 86 camps remain open, sheltering 18,055 people each day.
The acting president added that electricity and household gas services in La Guaira have been fully restored, while drinking-water services and telecommunications are operating at 90% and 85% of capacity, respectively. Nationwide, 19 drinking-water systems have been restored.
On health and education, Rodríguez said renovations at Caracas’s José María Vargas Hospital are 46 percent complete. “Ten hospitals are being repaired, and 115 of the 120 schools affected in La Guaira have been restored,” she added.
The Venezuelan government has likewise issued 2,244 loans to entrepreneurs, businesses, and tourism operators, among other sectors in La Guaira, totaling approximately US $19 million.
According to official figures, the twin earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, killed more than 6,500 people and injured over 16,740. More than 17,900 people were left homeless. Recovery efforts will depend largely on economic stability, which is closely tied to the oil industry, now under Washington’s control following the January 3 military intervention.
Sources: teleSUR and albaciudad.org