Venezuela and the UN plan prefabricated houses for 18 thousand earthquake victims

The Venezuela government and the United Nations (UN) are preparing to take a joint step to solve the shelter problem of tens of thousands of people following two consecutive major earthquakes that recently struck the country. According to official data, these devastating earthquakes left approximately 18,000 people homeless, causing a major humanitarian crisis. Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who conducted assessments in the region to evaluate the magnitude of the crisis and discuss solutions, made important statements regarding the issue. Speaking to the EFE agency in the Playa Grande region, Fletcher emphasized that one of the biggest priorities currently being actively worked on in the field is to shelter the victims safely and permanently. He confirmed that the government has taken concrete steps within this framework to ensure that affected citizens attain better living conditions.

Fletcher stated that the Venezuela government is pursuing a two-pronged strategy to solve the housing crisis. The first phase of this strategy involves bringing prefabricated structures into the country to quickly protect the disaster victims. In the second phase, it is planned to construct much more permanent housing and buildings where people can live in the long term. The official specifically noted that temporary shelter areas can only be a short-term solution and that the need for permanent shelter cannot be postponed. Given the scale of the destruction caused by the earthquake, it is stated that these housing policies must be urgently implemented for the public to return to their normal living conditions as soon as possible. The implementation of this plan also plays a critical role in the future trajectory of the humanitarian aid process in the region.

These tremors that occurred in the country have severely damaged the infrastructure and the existing housing stock. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs warned that it poses vital risks for those affected by the earthquake to continue staying in evacuated or destroyed hazardous areas. Considering that the region harbors additional dangers such as aftershocks and possible landslides, it was clearly stated that waiting in these areas is unacceptable. The statements emphasized that people must be removed from these risky temporary camps where they are currently located and relocated to new shelter areas where their physical safety can be fully ensured. It was reported that this relocation and re-housing process must be carried out rapidly and in a manner worthy of human dignity to reduce the trauma experienced by the public.

According to current data released by the government, at least 16,686 people are currently forced to live in temporary camps established across the country. According to a statement made by Venezuela Minister of Education Héctor Rodríguez, a total of 87 different temporary camp sites have been activated to host and shelter these citizens. It is assessed that these camps were operationalized in the short term to meet the immediate shelter needs that arose right after the disaster, but the conditions here are not sustainable in the long run. Experts frequently raise the issue that sheltering such a dense population in tents or temporary structures for a prolonged period carries the potential to create additional problems in terms of hygiene, health, and psychology. For this reason, the immediate implementation of the aforementioned prefabricated housing and permanent shelter plans is seen as the most important step that will alleviate the density in the camps.

Consequently, this prefabricated housing initiative, to be carried out jointly by the Venezuela government and the United Nations, brings a new ray of hope for the earthquake victims. Thanks to this cooperation between the international community and local governments, disaster victims will have the opportunity to spend the winter months and harsh weather conditions in safer places. The advantage of prefabricated houses being quickly assembled is of critical importance to manage the period until the construction process of permanent buildings is completed. Officials state that all logistics and reconstruction activities in the disaster zone will progress within this main focus framework, and that no effort will be spared to address the grievances of the victims. In the upcoming period, it is planned to closely monitor how successfully these permanent shelter policies will be implemented and how many people will be reunited with their homes.