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Proceso 1165
October 12 2005
ISSN 0259-9864
Editorial: The disasters and an account of the events
Politics: The privatization of a policy of disasters
Economy: The cost of the disasters: a preliminary balance
The disasters and an account of the events
For different reasons, it is not
common to talk about a full account of the events in a disaster situation or
anything like it. Even if a crisis is so overwhelming as the one that the
country just went through, the intention to unite efforts usually prevails over
any attempt to critically evaluate the behavior of the public officials or the
private companies’ representatives, whose responsibilities are definitively
unavoidable. The actions of those who claim for this kind of evaluation are
usually condemned by the official spokespeople and their allies in the most
important news media; they are usually accused of trying to politicize the
situation, trying to divide the society in moments when the union of everyone is
the priority.
These are arguments that obviously, besides not being very solid statements,
reveal the intention to cover-up, either consciously or unconsciously, the
actions of those that have a direct responsibility in a disaster situation. That
complicity begins with certain words and terms that are used to describe the
situation. The loudest example of this is the expression “natural disaster”,
constantly used by public officials, journalists, and businessmen. This sort of
expression introduces a bias that becomes an obstacle to make more of a
realistic interpretation of a disaster situation, especially when it comes to
discuss its social impact.
In this sense, it is necessary to replace the expression “natural disaster” with
a plain and a simple term: “disaster”. This is not just a mere terminological
substitution, it involves a different perspective and a different conception. If
what is accomplished with the first expression is to blame nature for the
damages, the second term makes anyone pay attention to the social conditions
that lead certain social groups to suffer, more than others, the impact of
different natural phenomena. In other words, there is disaster, not where it
actually happens, but where a portion of the population –that is, a vulnerable
sector of the population- is exposed to the impact of a disaster. The level of
social vulnerability is directly proportional to the level of impact revealed by
the forces of nature, and therefore, the disaster “level” is stronger.
Another conclusion can be added to this one: in the divided societies,
fragmented by deep socioeconomic differences, the most vulnerable social sectors
are those located at the base of the social pyramid, that is, the poorest
sectors, those that live in precarious conditions and in an extreme marginality.
It is for these social groups that the natural disasters are a permanent threat,
not because nature itself has a murderous inclination, but because of the
precarious conditions in which many people live. They do not have a decent home,
they get sick very often, and they do not have access to all of the basic
services, among other aspects. That is why they cannot face the disasters in the
same way other social groups do.
Given this vulnerable situation, the priority here should be to make sure that
the less fortunate groups of the society are safe. This should be the main task
of the governmental authorities as a whole, the task of all the ministries and
institutions created to make the environment safer for the population. And not
just that: previous efforts are necessary and unavoidable in order to reduce,
with the best resources and in the fastest way possible the level of the
vulnerability conditions of those social groups.
After a situation of disaster, one of the things that definitively has to be
done is to request a full account of the events to the governmental authorities,
a report of what they did to reduce the conditions of social vulnerability, and
a report about how they handled the situation when the disaster actually took
place. In other words, a full account of the events is an obligation that the
authorities have to fulfill before the presence of the society as a whole, and
of course, before the presence of the victims –a specific group of people that
is usually a victim of the State’s negligence and a victim of the voraciousness
of certain business companies-.
Once the country is out of the most dramatic moments, a full report of the
events provided by the Saca administration should become a public affair of
first importance. What did the State do to protect the country’s most vulnerable
sectors of the population? What was the quality of the performance in the
different ministries when it came to handle the disaster situation? Did the
State accomplish to protect the life and the belongings of the affected
families? Is the government prepared to face emergency situations that involve
disasters such as the recent one? What are the responsibilities of the
government in reference to the victims? Does the complicity between the
governments of ARENA and the construction sector’s business elite –with Grupo El
Roble, for instance- has to do with the deterioration of the environment in the
high areas of San Salvador and Santa Tecla? If so, who is responsible for what?
Will the responsible ones accept to pay for the damage? These and other
questions are waiting for an answer. Hopefully, a long period of silence will
not prevent those that caused the damage from being punished.
The society has to demand from the government the fulfillment of its
constitutional duties, and the fundamental aspect of those duties is to protect
the citizenry.
The privatization of a policy of disasters
The Saca administration became active staying away from the
authoritarian trademark of its predecessor, Francisco Flores, at least from the
perspective of its discourse, and by offering a wider space of discussion as
well as a higher level of political agreements. However, its decisions to face
the natural disasters that have affected the country are almost a carbon copy of
Flores’ mistakes. The policy regarding the attention to disasters and the
prevention mechanisms has been privatized, that is, oriented towards the
interests of the party that belongs to the present administration –and connected
with the interests of the economic and the political sectors that this party
represents-.
While much has been said about an approach between the Executive authority and
the City Hall of San Salvador to take case of a portion of the damage caused by
the floods in San Salvador, nothing has been said about what are the rest of the
country’s municipalities doing. The National Emergency Committee (COEN, in
Spanish), according to many reports prepared by the city halls administrated by
the opposition, has not assisted the needs of the victims.
Once again it is possible to see the same policy used by the governments of
ARENA when it comes to deal with the city halls administrated by the opposition.
There is a systematic policy of blocking these municipalities, since the most
important ones are in the hands of the FMLN. This explains why the executives of
ARENA refuse to assign a higher level of resources to these city halls, or to
approve measures that enable them to have a higher degree of economic
flexibility in order to adopt projects connected with the municipal development.
Unfortunately, this policy has been taken to the extreme, in the context of the
national state of calamity. Not only the aid is not arriving to the sectors that
were affected by the disaster if there are no cameras involved, but, when it
does arrive, it gets there through people dressed in the colors of the official
party.
The international aid
The first reaction of several representatives of the government was to declare
that they rejected the international aid. However, the magnitude of the disaster
was so overwhelming that the optimism and the self-sufficient characteristics of
the government had to be modulated. By then, it was already evident that the
crisis had slipped through the very fingers of the government. They had to admit
that the financial resources of the State would not be enough to deal with the
disaster, contrary to what the Minister of Foreign Affairs had stated. President
Saca indicated that both the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as the Minister
of Economy would address a speech to the international community in order to
request their help.
This was obvious. However, once the foreign aid arrived, many strange things
started to happen. It turned out that the help provided by some countries was
welcomed and completely necessary, while the aid of other countries was
rejected. A country that has a budget of $120 million just for the roads would
refuse with disdain the help offered by certain nations.
On last October 7th, Venezuela sent a group of 10 medical doctors and 26
disaster technicians. However, they had to go back to South America a couple of
days later. During those two days, the Venezuelan professionals could not
trespass the limits of the Comalapa airport. According to the Venezuelan
Ambassador, Maria Eugenia Silva, the Salvadoran government indicated that “that
kind of help was not necessary”. What the government did accept was a load of
packages with medicine and food, and a donation of $400,000 dollars.
The government also rejected the help offered by Cuba, a group of medical
doctors to assist the affected communities. The arguments to justify this
decision was that El Salvador already has enough doctors to face the crisis.
Then, how does the government explain that the help of three Israeli doctors was
indeed accepted without any conditions at all? The Minister of Public Health,
Guillermo Maza, explained that they did accept the help of the Israeli doctors
because it was a small delegation and because “right now there is no need to get
crowded with more doctors (…) than we already have”. A very poor explanation,
because it is evident that in a situation of this nature it makes no sense to
say that we are “crowded” with doctors in the hospitals, when doctors are
actually needed in the communities and in the shelters.
If, as it was explained by the Venezuelan Ambassador, the group of professionals
that had to go back to her country in the weekend, “is fully qualified to
evaluate the damage, to search for victims and rescue them, to assist the
medical emergencies, and to administrate the shelters”, the negative attitude of
the Salvadoran authorities makes no sense at all. In order to somehow clean-up
his act, the President stated that “we did not need rescue teams, and the
delegation was formed by this kind of professionals”. And the doctors? It seems
that, as the President himself declared, “we do not need doctors”. During the
disaster we did not need international aid either.}
It is necessary to keep record of the aid
During the earthquakes of 2001, the international community preferred to deliver
a considerable portion of their contribution through the non-governmental
organizations (ONG) and through the municipal governments, in order to guarantee
that their donations would arrive without any delay to the communities. This
measure indicated that it was a fact that the government was not qualified to
adequately administrate the aid, the governments and the institutions that were
very supportive chose the safest way possible to accomplish their goal.
On Wednesday, October 12th, the newspapers revealed that 9% of the aid that the
World’s Food Program (PMA, in Spanish) that the UN sent to the country “got
lost”. The UN destined 75% of this aid to the city halls, and the lost 9% was a
portion of the 25% of the aid received by the government.
This report is critical, since the international community has generously
responded to the request for help. From the Central American Bank of Economic
Integration (BCIE, in Spanish) –which has donated $100,000 dollars-; Taiwan
–that donated $300,000 dollars-; to the government of Honduras –that sent 3,000
mattresses-. This means that governments and institutions from all over the
world have responded to the help requested. And this happens in a time when El
Salvador is not the only country facing a disaster: in Latin America alone,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico were also affected by hurricane Stan; and this
is without even mentioning the situation of both India and Pakistan after the
recent earthquakes.
This is the great enigma after each disaster. If the aid does not get to the
communities, where does it get lost if it is in the hands of the government? In
order not to tarnish their image, the opposition in the Congress proposed that
the Legislative Assembly were to be chosen to closely supervise an efficient
administration of the resources, a plan that, symptomatically, the congressmen
of the official party refused to accept. In an opportunistic management of a
liberal “let us do”, the party of the government understands that the State that
it presently controls is a private matter, and that nobody has to ask for
explanations.
The cost of the disasters: a preliminary balance
After last week’s tragedy, the reconstruction stage
follows. The floods left the public and the private infrastructure damaged. Many
people that lost their possessions will have to start all over again. However,
the loss of human lives was more critical than the destruction, especially if
the people that died were the heads of their homes. This turns the situation
even more delicate, especially if we think of the near future. The important
thing is that in this new stage, the State not only should rebuild the public
infrastructure –streets, bridges, schools, medical units-, it is also necessary
to design a disaster mitigation plan, in order to reduce the country’s level of
vulnerability. And there has to be a systematic aid plan for the families that
have been seriously affected by the floods.
The reconstruction of the social infrastructure
By the end of the last week, the ministries were already making petitions to the
Salvadoran President. According to the Ministry of Public Works (MOP, in
Spanish), approximately 85% of the road’s net was affected by the rain.
According to this institution, they will need $120 million to work on this
problem. This information turns even more relevant when it is confirmed that
several of the affected streets had been recently constructed, something that
suggests that they were not under qualified supervision.
In the same way, the Minister of Education, Darlyn Meza, requested support from
the government because some of the public schools were seriously damaged.
According to this public official, 313 schools were affected by the rain, and
out of this amount, nearly 86 schools will not be able to continue working
because of the conditions of the infrastructure. Meza indicated that the
restorations will approximately cost $1.5 million. In the schools that were
seriously affected by the disaster, several public officials of the Ministry of
Education consider that the school year is practically over, and that they will
consider the proposal about promoting the students to the following year.
The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS, in Spanish) also
made a report about their loss. The Minister of this institution, Guillermo Maza,
indicated that the net of public hospitals and health centers was affected. The
damage caused in the different units adds up to approximately $15 million. In
addition, there is a degree of loss that has not been calculated yet. Due to the
rain, in the last week, a considerable amount of medications were not delivered
to the storage centers or to the health units, since many of these health units
were isolated because of the closed roads.
In reference to the reconstruction tasks, the Minister of Hacienda (internal
revenue service), Guillermo Lopez Suarez, stated that there will be a budgetary
reassignment for the next year. Before the disaster caused by the floods, the
minister had already presented the Law Proposal of the General Budget of the
Nation for 2006. With the damage, this proposal will be dramatically modified.
The expenses to mitigate the risk and the reduction of the vulnerability
level
The Salvadoran State will not only have to spend money on the reconstruction of
the public infrastructure. It is also necessary to work on the vulnerability of
the different areas of the country. Many streets and roads, even if they did not
totally collapsed, are seriously affected by the possibility of a landslide.
After the constant amount of rain of the last week, there can easily be found in
streets and roads considerable portions of soil that are about to collapse.
As far as the mitigation of the risks is concerned, President Saca stated that
he will give a considerable level of importance to the situation of the families
that live in front of the Cordillera del Balsamo. The President met with a group
of representatives of the neighborhoods at risk located at the base of the
mountain range. According to the MOP, there are $7 million available for such
mitigation tasks. This amount would be used in the area of the Colonia “Las
Colinas”. However, it is important that the government specifies how much money
will be assigned to the mitigation tasks in the neighborhoods that surround “Las
Colinas”: Residencial “Las Ardenas” and Pinares de Suiza.
They have also publicly revealed that the government will spend $11 million to
restore the natural drainage of the Ilopango Lake. With the floods, this lake
grew way out of proportion and damaged the houses of the families that lived
close to the riverside. This sort of expenses would not be necessary if, after
the earthquakes of 2001, the government would have restored the natural drainage
of the lake. Some of the people that live in the area explained that after the
earthquakes of 2001, international experts calculated how expensive it would be
to implement this project. The government stated that they already have that
information, and that the expenses will be based on that amount, plus the
percentage of inflation of the last years.
These are a couple the mitigation tasks that the government has directly
undertaken; however, there is plenty left to do. The inhabitants of the areas at
risk have to be organized in order to ask the government to establish a
mitigation project in their respective areas. If this does not happen, the State
has to put pressure on the construction companies that worked in those urban
areas. This is what happened with the families that live in the neighborhoods
close to the Cordillera del Balsamo, and this is an example for the inhabitants
of the urbanizations of “Via del Mar” and “Campos Verdes”, in Lourdes.
More economic loss
The constant rain of the last week also affected the economic activity. Not too
long ago, the Minister of Agriculture and Cattle-Raising (MAG, in Spanish),
through the director of the institution, Mario Salaverria, revealed the loss
caused by the rain. The public official estimated that the loss is approximately
of $9.5 million. The cultivation of coffee, rice, and sugar cane are some of the
most affected ones. The cattle-raising and the poultry farming activities were
seriously affected. The cultivation of cotton was also affected; however, for
the experts of the MAG the loss in this area is not a crucial problem.
The tourism activities were also affected. The damage caused in the recreational
centers is approximately of $900,000 dollars. In addition, due to the emergency
that the country went through, the sector of tourism lost approximately $2
million in profits.
This information, according to the directors of these institutions of the State,
is just a preliminary approximation. They still have to add the damages that
have not been reported. In this sense, some of the business associations
indicated that they did not agree with the estimate of the agricultural loss
presented by the MAG. According to the information of the associations, the
impact of the rain over the agricultural sector goes beyond the estimate made by
the MAG.
How much will it cost to help the victims?
Among the reconstruction costs, the government has to consider the possibility
of a project of systematic assistance to the victims. In this sense, it is
important to see that a good portion of the families that are now in the
shelters lost absolutely everything they had. Some of them only lost their
appliances and furniture, but even if they count with their homes, the structure
of their houses has been seriously affected by the rain.
This aid project has to include, among other aspects, the temporary care of the
nutrition of the families, clothing, the reconstruction of the houses, and a
insertion program of productivity for the victims. A temporary nutrition project
is necessary due to the fact that many of the victims are currently unemployed.
In the rural areas, many people feed their families with a portion of their
cultivations, but now these cultivations are lost because of the floods. That is
why several families do not have a basic amount of food to face their
nutritional needs, and, therefore, they do not count with a potion of
cultivations to sell in the market.
Taking the cost of the Basic Food Basket (CBA, in Spanish) of the rural area as
an example –that is, $87 dollars-, the government should be spending $1.13
million to feed 65,000 people for a month, a number equivalent to approximately
13,000 families. In this context, the government, through the Minister of
Governance, Rene Figueroa, has committed itself to feed the victims, although
they are not in shelters anymore and they are living in the house of a relative
or a friend, that request such assistance.
For instance, in the area of the Bajo Lempa alone, the government has to spend
$94,100 dollars per month to feed the 1,082 families affected by the floods. In
the same way, the government has to spend $35,900 dollars each month to assist
the 400 families that live in shelters in San Pedro Masahuat.
Another important component of an assistance project of this kind should be the
construction of houses for the families that lost everything. The government
will have to reduce the amount of bureaucratic procedures so that the victims
are able to have a new home. In this sense, it is necessary to clearly establish
that the families with the lowest incomes –that is if they have any incomes at
all- have to be provided with homes built with the money donated by
international institutions. According to the government, approximately $75
million could be destined to build new houses for the victims. Out of this
amount, $70 million will be assigned to begin with the first stage of the
reconstruction project.
An essential component of the aid must be concentrated in the reinsertion
program aimed to the people whose productive activities were affected. In the
rural area, the government has to help the people that lost their instruments in
the places that were stricken by the floods. In the country side, the farmers
will count with their pieces of land again if the water level decreases, but
they will not have their work instruments. The State will also have to assign a
portion of the budget to the farming activities of the victims, so they can get
restarted with their cultivations. This is because, for this agricultural year,
many of the farmers will not see a penny for their work because their
cultivations were totally lost and they do not count with seeds for the next
year.
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