Wall construction, with condominiums in background. Photo from O Globo
"By year-end the Rio de Janeiro state government wants to build almost 7 miles (11 km) of walls to contain 19 communities. It will spend 40 million reais ($17.6 million) and have to relocate 550 houses, Lazzoli said." Read full story here.
That money could be used for upgrades that residents actually need in public services, health, education, and police reform. It's 2009, you would think officials would have enough basic economic sense to know that the massive unmet demand for low-income housing will not magically disappear if you build a wall.
This is another example of abuses that favelados continue to endure, even after the democratic transition turned them from a persecuted underclass without any substantive rights into ostensible "citizens" with votes.
Just another symbol of how democracy is often woefully insufficient to protect the basic interests of the marginalized urban poor.
Posts
2 comments:
Oh, dear. That wall will not separate rich from poors. It will be done AROUND favelas. José Saramago, Nobel prize winner commited this same mistake and he... errr... voltou atrás sobre o que disse. Sorry, my english is not that good.
Entendo portuguese, nao tem problema...
You are correct, the wall goes around the favela. Though this has the effect of cutting it off from the richer neighborhoods nearby, and the forest.
There are two ways to describe this situation. To be accurate, I would have to see the wall myself in person. But neither is good:
(1) The wall divides between rich and poor
(2) The wall surrounds the poor, and partially hides their community from view so it cannot be seen from other neighborhoods
I saw several walls designed like this in Sao Paulo state - painted green to make the hillside appear more like forest, instead of like a poor community. Rather than engaging with the favela, government would rather pretend it isn't there and keep a "clean" view for the neighbors' condominium windows.
Post a Comment