| Work Detail |
Without answers and while the new ruling party lands in the social sector, the social organizations that promote improvements in the neglected neighborhoods had to stop the ongoing projects
December 17, 2023
“At the end of November we decided. We no longer had money. We gathered them together and told them that this was their last salary.” Liliana Aguirre is in charge of an electrical installation in homes in the San Cayetano neighborhood, San Isidro district. The Aguirre project, which employs more than 30 workers, is one of the many public works that social groups carry out throughout the country within the framework of a program that until the end of the previous administration depended on the Ministry of Social Development, and that today, with the change of Government, entered into a period of waiting and uncertainty. “We hope that they will deposit what is missing, but I find it difficult and we cannot ask them to work for free,” says Aguirre.
The Early Works Program (POT), run by the Secretariat of Socio-Urban Integration (SISU), provides resources and financing to social organizations to promote improvements in accessibility and connectivity in neglected neighborhoods throughout the country. The Secretary approved the first section of the electrical installation, and with the last audit of the previous administration, the Aguirre project was given the green light, which awaits the disbursement of funds and which, like so many others, awaits definitions. For yes or no.
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“We only worked for three months. We are at 20% of the work and we had to stop it. They tell us we have to wait, but until when? There is no type of response. So we dont have answers to give people either, which is what we want. That they tell us no and we talk, or yes, we continue but there are no answers,” she says.
The number of workers varies depending on the magnitude of the work, but it always includes between 20 and 30: a construction official, assistants, night watchmen, clothiers, a “sociocultural” – the agent who links the program with the neighborhood – and an architect , technical support. Salaries, for five eight-hour days, vary between 100,000 and 130,000 pesos. “Nothing, but it is a livelihood,” they explain.
“We make sidewalks, curbs and water, sewage and electricity installations,” explains architect Felipe de los Santos, who from Libres del Sur, a group with national reach, was able to complete a project in the Los Hornos neighborhood, district of La Plata, but not the one being executed in Montegrande by Esteban Echeverría, whose completion was scheduled for February. “Many people had a salary at least until March,” explains Aguirre. “According to what the Minister of Economy said, the works that were already in progress were going to continue, but there is still no definition,” adds de los Santos.
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In transit
“There is no indication of freezing or stopping anything,” shares one of the officials of Together for Change who in recent days joined the army of Pablo de la Torre, in command of the Secretariat of Children and Family, which draws from the teams of San Miguel – a district that his brother Joaquín has led politically since 2007 – but also from other municipalities such as Tres de Febrero or Lomas de Zamora. “There is management experience, but this is another dimension,” they compare, alluding to the national scope. “We havent even seen the files yet,” says another, whose position has not yet been made official. Outside of the uncertainty surrounding financing, there are also doubts about the fate of the SISU: it could fall under Minister Guillermo Ferraro, in the Infrastructure portfolio, or fall under the wing of Sandra Pettovello, in charge of the Ministry of Human Capital. .
The shadow of the announcements regarding the cessation of public works is projected above all a scheme that activates – they understand the social organizations – a virtuous dynamic in the neighborhoods: each project represents income for employed families and better living conditions for many. others. They point out, in turn, the framework of social support that work generates in the neighborhoods. “The last one who started working was a 19-year-old boy. He was very happy, it was his first job in the neighborhood. He lasted four days. "Where can that boy end up now?" says Oscar Hurtado, who completed the first stage of a power line in Don Torcuato, but who has 100 families waiting, who, upon seeing the results of the first section, signed up to renew the yours.
“You dont have to enter the houses to realize the electrical status. They are spiderwebs of cables,” she points out. Indelible, everyone maintains the memory of 2007, when a connection unleashed a fire that had a tragic outcome in La Cava, San Isidro.
Post in the San Cayetano neighborhood, San Isidro district
Post in the San Cayetano neighborhood, San Isidro district
“We have no guarantee of continuity in the work. Many neighborhoods depend on this. Many works that were left open and are places that were intervened because of risk issues,” explains Gastón Reyes, in charge of monitoring the works carried out by the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE). “With the closure of the administration, the administrative circuits were stopped,” adds Hernández, his counterpart from Libres del Sur. “We are and were very critical of the previous ruling party. But this program works very well. The audits – which confirm the times and numbers –, too,” he explains.
“Lets hope that the wallet opens a little more and that they fulfill the missing parts. These are works that have already been started. "Let what is missing from the second stage, which is already scheduled, be fulfilled," Hurtado said.
Canteens
Another concern that looms over social organizations are canteens, a containment front that slows the progress of the crisis. “In some we can no longer sign up more people. There began to be a very high demand that we cannot satisfy,” says Hurtado. His group keeps a record of those who come to these assistance centers to monitor the weight, height and nutrition of the children. These assistance centers have been hit in recent years because, in the midst of the sustained crisis, State resources decreased intermittently.
“We dont have malnourished people, we have malnourished people,” explains Aguirre, referring to flour, which almost entirely makes up the nutritional pyramid in dining rooms and picnic areas. Meat and vegetables are borne almost exclusively by the workers who, in return for the Empower Work Plan, support the canteens.
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“Adults have also been coming for more than a year asking for food for their homes. The salary has not been enough for a long time. Heads of families come to save that food,” she says. “If [Luis] Caputos numbers are real, we are going to receive an army of people. There is no way to bank this,” Hurtado projects. “Many ate in the school cafeteria,” adds Aguirre, “but now classes are over.”
Federico González del Solar
Source: La Nación |
