Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

In protest of the slow progress being made in the reconstruction of their homes, the people of Pisco, one of the provinces worst affected by the magnitude-8 earthquake on August 15, 2007 have announced they will hold a protest on August 15, exactly one year after the earthquake.

The people's complaints were confirmed by the mayor of the province, Juan Mendoza Uribe, who affirmed that the government's construction of houses and public buildings was extremely slow.

Fifteen thousand homes have been destroyed and another ten thousand do not have water or electricity asserted the mayor, adding that the transportation system had collapsed.

"It's a critical situation that will not be fixed from one day to another or even in a year," sad Mendoza.

He reported that 255 million soles had already been invested and that six thousand bonds worth 36 million soles had been given to earthquake victims.

On the other hand, he admitted that only 9,000 of the 20,000 property deeds to be issued had been given to needy families.

Mendoza explained a major problem was that there was not any legal paperwork for at least sixteen thousand homes that had been destroyed.