The governor of the Metropolitan Region, Claudio Orrego blamed Avellaneda Real Estate for the floods that have affected at least twenty homes in the Lo Cruzat sector.in the commune of Quilicura, in the middle of the frontal system that until 7:00 p.m. left – only on this Wednesday – between 26 and 32 millimeters of rain falling in the center and north of Greater Santiago.
«The situation is terrible, there is a lot of desperation, sadness, anger and indignation from the neighbors, because – among other things – this had never happened, it only happened this year, since a construction company was installed at the end of the street, and that apparently all that was the natural rainwater evacuation system was eliminated«accused the authority in What’s left of the day.
He explained that «there was a natural rainwater evacuation system, through an irrigation canal, and the arrival of this real estate company closed it, and meant that today people who had been living in the sector for 15, 20 years have been enormously harmed.»
Orrego said that he has already visited «more than 20 flooded homes, and there may be much more, with a meter of water inside the houses, with total loss for many people, loss of vehicle, work instruments; people of effort who is paying the dividend of his house.
The responsibility for all this, he pointed out, lies with «the Avellaneda construction company and the Lo Cruzat real estate company.»
He confirmed that tomorrow, Thursday, there will be a meeting with the Serviu, the Presidential Delegation and the company «to see what works, at least temporary, we are going to carry out,» considering that winter has not even begun yet.
From now on, «The first thing is to resolve the emergency(because) today people are up to their necks in water, we have to take out the water, Houses must be sanitized because there is a lot of sewagethe entire sewage system exploded, so it’s not just rainwater.»
And then, he pointed out, «the second way is to investigate what happened: Did this construction company, for example, have all its paperwork up to date?When were these permits granted? Was the rainwater evaluation contemplated? What has happened to the works that Serviu has to carry out, has it carried them out or not? «There is a lot of fabric to be cut here.»
«WE HAVE GROWN LIKE THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE»
On a general level, Orrego questioned: How is it possible that a modern city, faced with a rain that has been important, but not the universal flood, always experiences this type of floods?
«Here We have grown like the law of the jungle, you build where you wantthe foothills are waterproofed, investments in rainwater are not made because they are compartmentalized between the Ministry of Public Works, the Serviu, and the private sector,» he replied.
«So, when rains like this arrive, which we were not used to 14 years ago, because we have had a fairly brutal drought, the structural problems of Santiago begin to be demonstrated, (with) the same points that flood every year (… .) we have a deficit in rainwater infrastructure in Santiago,» he said.
«The problem,» he said, «is that The ordinance system that we have today means that companies can build their real estate projects without taking charge of the large rainwater infrastructure, which corresponds to the central State. through Serviu and the Ministry of Public Works, but since the deficit is very large, it is not done either.