{"id":24874,"date":"2015-10-21T13:46:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T16:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=24874"},"modified":"2015-10-27T09:12:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T12:12:52","slug":"first-minha-casa-minha-vida-public-housing-projects-now-fraught-with-violence-and-neglect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=24874","title":{"rendered":"First ‘Minha Casa Minha Vida’ Public Housing Projects Now Fraught With Violence and Neglect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For the original article in Portuguese by Tiago Dantas and M\u00e1rcio Menasce published in O Globo click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Five years after the first\u00a0Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/a> (MCMV, or My House My Life) public housing apartments were delivered, residents still encounter violence, structural problems, fraud, and a lack of publicly-funded infrastructure and recreation spaces. In some complexes problems stem from high default rates; in others\u00a0drug trafficking<\/a> undermines a\u00a0sense of security. In some of the first MCMV\u00a0projects in Brazil\u2014Feira de Santana (Bahia), Campinas (S\u00e3o Paulo), and Rio de Janeiro\u2014successfully obtaining one’s own home is still a headache for residents.<\/p>\n

Minha Casa Minha Vida is one of President Dilma Rousseff\u2019s hallmark programs<\/a> amid a second term marred by a growing political crisis, budget cuts, and proposed tax hikes. Without any other important projects ready to be delivered, the government has focused on the housing program. Since August 31, 17 complexes have been launched, with the president and seven other ministers in attendance. According to the federal government, up to 360,000 families will receive units by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

The first MCMV\u00a0complex was launched\u00a0on March 31, 2010 in Feira de Santana, Bahia. Designated for 440 low income families, the Residencial Nova Concei\u00e7\u00e3o is known locally by the name of a local criminal faction. Although the organization\u2019s influence has since receded in the neighborhood, police report the gang\u2019s spray-painted initials are still visible on nearly all of the complex\u2019s 22 buildings, along with graffiti images of revolvers and the number 157\u2014the penal code for theft. Seven people have been murdered in the condominium.<\/p>\n

Inside the apartments iron barricades and bolt-locks protect every door. Residents cite, however, that these precautions have not deterred the theft of electronic appliances or squatting in unoccupied apartments. Lack of policing is one of the most frequent complaints among those living in Nova Concei\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity here is terrible. I don\u2019t let my children go out alone. In June, we went outside and an armed man turned up to shoot someone. I’d prefer to go back to renting,\u201d said L.N., 51-years-old, who asked to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

In the last five years, two people have tried to sell security services to residents\u2014a strategy employed by militias<\/a>. Those who didn\u2019t pay suffered retaliation, losing access to postal services, for example. A majority of the residents receive the Bolsa Fam\u00edlia government cash transfer<\/a>. Aside from the absence of police, residents bemoan the lack of doctors and day care centers in the area. In addition, the playground in the complex was destroyed, and the lights\u00a0on the soccer field haven\u2019t worked for at least two years.<\/p>\n

Minha Casa Minha Vida isn’t solely the federal government\u2019s responsibility. The state government must provide security<\/a>. According to Lieutenant Colonel Vanderval Ramos from Feira de Santana, a police station can\u2019t operate in the Nova Concei\u00e7\u00e3o housing complex, but \u201cit can be constantly patrolled.\u201d Health<\/a> and education<\/a> facilities are the responsibility of municipal authorities. Feira de Santana\u2019s Housing Secretary, Sandro Ricardo, says that the city researches the public services necessary for each housing project. According to the Ministry of Cities, 6% of funds for each project are earmarked for \u201ccontracts to build health and education facilities, just as there are funds designated for social welfare, security, and other needs complementary to housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water and Electric\u00a0Bills Unpaid<\/h3>\n

Fraud is another problem in Nova Concei\u00e7\u00e3o. In 2011, fifty units were sold, and last week, O Globo<\/em> interviewed two individuals who paid R$200 (US$52) for rent. According to the Ministry of Cities, the private sale and leasing of units is prohibited before the property has been purchased in full from the government, a process that takes ten years. Violators of this rule are obliged to \u201crepay the subsidies received and are barred from any other social programs funded by the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Rio, the Jardim das Ac\u00e1cias complex near Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a> was the city\u2019s first Minha Casa Minha Vida project\u2014inaugurated on June 24, 2010 with 291 units. Five years later, residents have stopped paying for water<\/a> and electricity<\/a> services as well as the condominium fee. Properties are not designated for commercial use, yet one had been converted into a beauty salon. Hairdresser J\u00e9ssica Cunha, who has lived in the apartment since her family was removed from Morro do Adeus, said she decided to start her salon from home due to the high cost of renting commercial space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never used that room anyway. It was an empty space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The building manager of Jardim das Ac\u00e1cias, Pedro Pascoal, said payments to CEDAE<\/a>\u2014Rio State\u2019s water and sewerage utility\u2014are short nearly R$100,000 (US$26,000). According to Mr. Pascoal, of the 291 units, only 120 pay the monthly R$92 (US$24) condominium fee on time. This money doesn’t cover payroll expenses for the facility\u2019s employees and an accountant or the upkeep of the property\u2019s security cameras and electronic gate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to pay for everything here. In the favelas, we didn\u2019t pay for electricity, water, or a condominium fee, and many people don\u2019t realize they need to pay for these things,\u201d Pascoal said.<\/p>\n

In another housing complex in Rio, Jardim das Palmeiras, a bar opened up in one of the apartments. The bar\u2019s owner doesn\u2019t live on the property anymore, despite having received the unit from the government.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An apartment turned into a bar<\/a> in the Jardim de Palmeiras condominium in Rio. Photo by M\u00f4nica Imbuzeiro\/Ag\u00eancia O Globo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Families that have a gross monthly income of less than R$1,600 (US$424) pay for their housing over the course of ten years at a rate of 5% of their income. If they can\u2019t cover this expense, they can lose their home. \u201cThe goal of Minha Casa Minha Vida is not to repossess homes that have defaulted, but to help recipients overcome potential obstacles,\u201d the Ministry of Cities said in a statement.<\/p>\n

In S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s<\/a> first complex, Campina Verde, residents face a different problem. They pay for security, but cite isolation as a major issue. There are no children in the streets and residents only use their units for sleep.<\/p>\n

Traffickers and Militias Invade Condominiums<\/h3>\n

In many Minha Casa Minha Vida condominiums drug traffickers<\/a> take control of the units and drive out residents. This was the case in Haroldo de Andrade in Barros Filho in Rio\u2019s North Zone<\/a>. In September, a Civil Police operation was met with gunfire from traffickers. One suspect died and three others were arrested. Police carried out search and arrest warrants in 60 apartments where traffickers from the nearby Morro de Pedreira favela were operating. According to the Civil Police, trafficker Carlos Jos\u00e9 da Silva Fernandes, also known as Arafat, had evicted 80 families who had settled in the MCMV\u00a0complex from areas controlled by a rival criminal faction. In the West Zone<\/a>, militias<\/a> have taken over MCMV condominiums. In August, a Civil Police operation in seven neighborhoods saw the arrest of four men and seizure of criminal accounting records. Warrants were carried out in 39 MCMV\u00a0condominiums. In total, Rio\u2019s police calculate that as many as 30,000 residents in 10,000 apartments are exploited by militias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original article in Portuguese by Tiago Dantas and M\u00e1rcio Menasce published in O Globo click here. Five years after the first\u00a0Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV, or My House My […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":24883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1854,1288,335,1330,328],"tags":[1850,371,32,125,397,698,107,282,1375,26,1852,1855,485,869,33,1851,1577,157,37,821,671,210,809,1555,406,443,370,21],"writer":[1848,1847],"translator":[1849],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24874","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-housingwatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-policies","10":"category-translation","11":"category-understanding-rio","12":"tag-bahia","13":"tag-cedae","14":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","15":"tag-drug-traffic","16":"tag-education","17":"tag-federal-government","18":"tag-health","19":"tag-housing","20":"tag-housing-deficit","21":"tag-housing-rights","22":"tag-jardim-das-acacias","23":"tag-jardim-das-palmeiras","24":"tag-light-electricity","25":"tag-lives-cannot-be-replaced-in-public-housing","26":"tag-militia","27":"tag-morro-da-pedreira","28":"tag-morro-do-adeus","29":"tag-minha-casa-minha-vida","30":"tag-north-zone","31":"tag-poor-quality-replacement-housing","32":"tag-president-dilma-rousseff","33":"tag-public-housing","34":"tag-public-security","35":"tag-redes-de-desenvolvimento-da-mare","36":"tag-sao-paulo","37":"tag-security","38":"tag-water","39":"tag-west-zone","40":"writer-marcio-menasce","41":"writer-tiago-dantas","42":"translator-sam-salvesen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24874"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=24874"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=24874"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=24874"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=24874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}