Six months on from the earthquake and tsunami in Chile

Today marks the six month anniversary of a massive 8.8 earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of southern and central Chile, leaving 2 million people affected and nearly 500 dead.

Libertad y Desarrollo has analyzed the progress of reconstruction efforts on the six-month anniversary and concluded that, on average, reconstruction is 83 percent complete, and insisted on the importance of periodically assessing its progress and identifying areas that need more focus. The study is expected to be repeated for the one-year anniversary of the catastrophe next February.

Public Infrastructure

All basic services have been restored to cities after the earthquake, and 95 percent of public infrastructure that was damaged has regained basic operating capabilities. All airports are now fully functional, and repairs at Santiago’s the Arturo Merino Benítez airport are 80 percent complete. Bridges and ports have shown slower progress.

“The whole country did very well,” said McMaster University professor Ahmed Ghobarah during a international earthquake and tsunami conference in Toronto, Canada. He compared the damage to that in Haiti, where a 7.0-magnitude quake struck in January (500 times weaker than Chile’s), leveling the capital city of Port-au-Prince and killing around 230,000 people and living millions homeless and still living in tents more than 6 months later.

“But there were two problems ,” Ghobarah added. “One of them was the ground -- some of these buildings are built on soft ground and marshes and filled-in areas… The other problem of course was people were cutting corners in the design and making mistakes that everybody knows we should not be doing.”

Housing

After the earthquake, 215,000 families were affected. Six months on, most of those families have been provided with some sort of emergency solution. However, despite the almost 80,000 emergency houses delivered and the subsidies for reparations or relocation, only 15 percent of the affected people have been assigned some kind of permanent housing solution. An estimated 215,000 homes were damaged, but only 1,947 homes are in the midst of being constructed and a mere 15 are finished, according to a report by El Mercurio. The slowest areas to recover need full demolition and reconstruction.

According to El Mercurio, 215,000 houses in Chile collapsed or were seriously damaged by the earthquake. But six months later, the government has built a mere 15 replacement houses.

There are 1, 947 houses currently under construction, and they are expected to be completed by the start of 2011 at the latest.“Before this government ends [its term], all people with scarce resources who lost their houses will be placed in new accommodation,” Housing Minister Magdalena Matte told the local press.

Families are no longer living in temporary tents donated by the other governments and NGOs those are all now gone since the governments relocated families to media aguas or wooden sheds ahead of the winter season.

"Its more than just rebuilding temporary homes which is good to give people somewhere to live. But we need to get people back on there feet and working as most families have suffered depression says Carolina Alzugaray who works as a physcologist in the fishing town of Talcahuano.

The clinic where she works has also seen a sharp increase in people suffering pycholoogical issues ." I deal mostly with young people here who turn to alcohol , drugs and even buying things in order to forget the day to day realities of living here.The teremotto social which people speak of means the social earthquake after the massive 8.8 one that last only 90 seconds. The terremotto social last much longer as after all the destruction and ruins we are still have to pick up the pieces even 6 months later.

As the reconstruction advance most communities are still not happy with how the quality and durability of the media aguas as they have been always been used in Chile because of their lower cost and quick solution. However many fear that they will be living in these temporary housing indefinitely as many how have lived through earthquakes of the past are still living in them many years after all the same promises of new homes for all.

Most recently the community of Dichato protested for the low quality of housing of these temporary solutions and that they wanted to rebuild in the same area where they use to live. Dichato is one of the small coastal fishing towns 2 hours from Concepcion that was almost completely wiped out by the tsunami . The majority of residents there were moved to the campamentos

Hundreds of inhabitants in the municipality of Tomé, Bío-Bío Region, protested by taking over the road .In the reconstruction plan for the area, specifies that people have to raise their homes in other places, to avoid similar complications later if a disaster happens again. The protesters set up barricades on the road which was armed with a major congestion in the sector. Carabineros de Tomé fired tear gas to control the situation.

Finally, after two hours of interruption, the neighbors put down their protest after a conversation with police. However they annonced that they will continue their demonstrations.

" This is a regional protest and march , six months after the earthquake, becuase of the widespread discontent in the region,and plan of reconstruction that has given the Government , says Sergio Chamorro representative of a citizen recontruction group.

However as the country is about to celebrate it's Independance Day and 200 year Bicentenary the country is focused on many other issues that many fear the reconstruction plan will have even less priority. The current dramatic evolving story of the 33 trapped miners in the San Jose mine in Copaipo that has capture the attention of the international and national media. Massive country protests for the hunger strikes for the arrested and detention of the Mapuches in the country. To environmental protests to the recently approved Punto De Choros thermoelectrical plant in a pristine area in northern Coquimbo region.

"Most people feel that the government is only doing the minimum and neccesary to move us forward but nothing more. I feel that the earthquake reconstruction is not the main priority for this government now as many other issues in Chile are getting more attention" says Clara García Vásquez a student who was in the town of San Antonio ,Chile

Libertad y Desarrollo paper on the progress of reconstruction efforts on the six-month anniversary ( In Spanish)
http://www.lyd.com/lyd/controls/neochannels/neo_ch4358/deploy/tp-%20979%20c%20ok.pdf

written by Christian Peña
http://web.mac.com/christian.pena