{"id":5555,"date":"2012-11-03T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2012-11-03T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=5555"},"modified":"2016-02-19T08:42:59","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T11:42:59","slug":"residents-in-rio-favela-lose-homes-to-aerial-tramway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=5555","title":{"rendered":"Residents in Rio Favela Lose Homes to Cable Car"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Click here<\/a> for original article, in Portuguese, by Silvana Bahia* for BBC Brasil.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Morro da Provid\u00eancia<\/a> community, between the Port Region<\/a> and Central Station, holds an important place in the history of Rio de Janeiro. The city\u2019s oldest favela, it was settled in 1897 by soldiers returning from the War of Canudos. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Construction of the cable car at Morro da Provid\u00eancia\u00a0 (photos: Leliane Peixoto)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The community, which will celebrate its 115th<\/sup> anniversary on November 15th, is going through one of the saddest periods in its history as the city evicts many residents from their homes. The sadness affects even those who will not suffer eviction.<\/p>\n

The favela is located in an area slated for three upgrading projects connected with the city\u2019s preparations for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016: “Marvelous Port<\/a>,” the \u201cOlympic Port,\u201d and the \u201cMorar Carioca<\/a>\u201d upgrading project.<\/p>\n

Morar Carioca affects the community most directly because it includes, among other things, an cable car that will connect one part of the hill \u2013 the Ladeira do Barroso \u2013 with the Central Station, and also with Samba City, where many samba schools\u2019 floats and costumes are created and stored.<\/p>\n

The Ladeira do Barroso is at the halfway point on the hill, which has raised questions from residents who feel that the tramway would be more useful if it ran to Cruzeiro, Provid\u00eancia\u2019s highest point. The city government alleges the decision was made by engineers working on the project, and was based on technical criteria.<\/p>\n

According to city officials, the investment of nearly R$131 million includes infrastructure, social facilities, and accessibility, and is meant to improve residents\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for the city’s summary of its project for the Morro da Provid\u00eancia (in Portuguese).<\/p>\n

Affective Memory<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the oldest public spaces in the community, the recently demolished Am\u00e9rico Brum Square was the only recreation area in the favela and was part of the affective memory of generations of residents. Today, the square is a giant work site, with construction equipment running every day, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.<\/p>\n

\"Pr\u00e9dio
The only remaining building in the area where the tramway will be built<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Retiree M\u00e1rcia Regina de Deus, 53, resident of Provid\u00eancia for 52 years, is one of the people resisting removal. The apartment building she has lived in for 20 years \u2013 built in 1938 \u2013 is the only one left in the area where the tramway will be built. Of the 9 families that used to live in the building at 235 Ladeira do Barroso, only 4 remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to tear down my building to put up another one, but they won\u2019t let me live in the new one,\u201d said M\u00e1rcia, who has become a symbol of residents\u2019 resistance. She said that the apartments to be built where her home now stands will not be used to house displaced residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the community\u2019s parties were at Am\u00e9rico Brum Square. We celebrated November 15th, Saint John\u2019s Day, Children\u2019s Day, Saint George\u2019s Day. Now all that\u2019s finished. Streets were closed without consulting residents. They don\u2019t care if there are handicapped people in the community. They came in here and they don\u2019t care about anything,\u201d she fumed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeacefully or by force\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Residents are resisting the city\u2019s plans in part because they have been left in the dark about their fate after the removal of their homes. Some assert that no one from the city has spoken to them about the project, which is supposed to benefit residents. They claim they were not informed of the purpose of the project, nor told when the work would begin, according to Sidney Ferreira, 38, resident of Provid\u00eancia and member of the Commission in Defense of Housing. Click here<\/a> to read the group’s manifesto, in Portuguese.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018You can leave peacefully, or by force. The tractors are coming either way.’ One resident went to live with family in Nova Igua\u00e7u. No one can afford to pay rent downtown in this real estate market, when the city\u2019s rent subsidy is only R$400 per month. This is social and ethnic cleansing,\u201d added Sidney.<\/p>\n

After much pressure to leave her home, cook Maria das Vit\u00f3rias Ribeiro Silva, 37, finally gave in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe representative from City Hall came to my house in person a few times, on top of several formal orders to appear at the administrative center,\u201d said the cook.<\/p>\n

Owner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maria das Vit\u00f3rias opted for assisted purchase, whereby the city buys a property chosen by the displaced party within a given price range, and oversees the transaction from start to finish.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Maria das Vitorias shows documents that she thought made her the legal owner of the property<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Maria\u2019s case, the problem is that the money was not paid to the actual owner. The woman who supposedly owned the apartment on Rua do Monte \u2013 Jacilete dos Santos Fagundes \u2013 participated in the entire process and took the city\u2019s check of R$41,600 for the purchase of the property.<\/p>\n

After the purchase, Maria learned the truth from neighbors: in fact, Jacilete had been a squatter, who had broken into the house and lived there for years. At City Hall, the apartment\u2019s property taxes are listed under the name of Adriano Afonso de Souza.<\/p>\n

The irregularity was only discovered after Maria das Vit\u00f3rias hired a lawyer. Asked about the situation, a city spokesperson said that she should come to the administrative center, which Maria says she has already done several times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trusted the city. I went through all the paperwork with the woman who claimed to be the owner. They paid her 41 thousand reais for the property and afterward I found out that the owner was someone else,\u201d said the cook, who is afraid of being evicted from the home she thought was hers.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s arguments<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the families who have lost their homes (so far) were on Ladeira do Farias. Close to 50 families are receiving the rent subsidy \u2013 a provisional benefit of R$400 allocated by the city to residents whose homes have been demolished, which they receive until their new housing is built.<\/p>\n

The rental homes\u2019 contracts are expiring and rents will increase. \u201cWe are desperate. Rent has gone up and the houses the city promised are not ready,\u201d vented one resident, who preferred not to be identified.<\/p>\n

According to a secretary from the Municipal Department of Housing, 196 families have been relocated. The secretary explained that the rent subsidy would not expire and that the \u201cplan for new housing in and around the community is for 860 units, of which 170 are currently being built. Of the 170 being built, 122 are nearly finished on Nabuco de Freitas Street, and should be ready for residents to move in at the beginning of 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Silvana Bahia, 27, is a journalist and resident of the Morro da Provid\u00eancia. She works with the organization Observat\u00f3rio de Favelas<\/a>\u00a0(Favela Observatory).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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