CNS STORY: Mexicans want politicians to stop campaigning and fix infrastructure

Eulalio Guevara Gonzalez cleans a small sewing business March 9 he runs with his wife in Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, Mexico, after a Feb. 5 rupture in a nearby canal sent wastewater flooding into his business. The high water mark is still visible, despite his attempts to clean it away. (CNS/David Agren)

By David Agren
Catholic News Service

VALLE DE CHALCO SOLIDARIDAD, Mexico (CNS) -- Wastewater suddenly rushed into Edith Larrondo's home in this bedroom community of Mexico City shortly after midnight Feb. 5. The water reached at least 5 feet and stayed for three weeks, wiping out the family's home-based taco stand -- famed locally for serving barbacoa, lamb roasted on-site in an earthen pit.

Larrondo said it was the third time in 25 years that sewage from a nearby canal inundated her home. But this time was different. Not only was the water deeper, it displaced thousands in the community known as Chalco, a magnet for impoverished residents of southeastern Mexico in search of better economic opportunities.

"There are far more people now," she said of Chalco. "This used to nothing but vacant lots."

The National Water Commission blamed the flood on unexpected rains, but locals, outside experts and political observers say the inundations were typical of the water woes perpetually vexing the Mexico City area. They point to such disasters as an indictment of rampant corruption, politicking and poor urban planning that places many residents in fast-growing, working-class areas at risk of catastrophes.

"For many years there have been warnings of two serious risks we have: a large flood and another earthquake," Father Hugo Valdemar Romero, spokesman for the Mexico City Archdiocese, told reporters in February. "Adequate measures have not been taken."

The commission has warned that large parts of Mexico City -- a region of 20 million people situated on a series of drained lakes in a high-altitude valley -- risks being flooded because the infrastructure has been poorly maintained and inadequately expanded for a growing population.

But water seldom tops political agendas in Mexico City and the neighboring state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital on three sides and contains the Chalco area. Politicians -- who are barred from re-election -- often fail to plan projects that last beyond the end of their administrations and show a preference for plowing money into visible infrastructure projects that will generate votes when they seek their next public office.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and Mexico state Gov. Enrique Pena Nieto are the early favorites for the 2012 presidential contest and have invested heavily in promoting their images and high-profile public works projects.

Father Valdemar called on both men to focus on improving services.

"They both need to stop spending time seeking the presidency and get to work for the citizenry and, above all, respond to those affected, the thousands of families that are unfortunately poor," he said.

Finding long-term solutions might prove difficult, however, especially in Chalco. The municipality of 330,000 residents on the southeastern outskirts of Mexico City was a thinly populated valley until 1988, when then-President Carlos Salinas unveiled a massive public works and anti-poverty project known as "Solidarity."

Chalco was the crown jewel of the program. It brought electricity, paved roads and sewers to the area, which was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1990.

It also brought about a population influx. Much of the development was poorly planned, said Jesuit Father Gonzalo Rosas of St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish, which serves some of the areas hardest hit by the recent flood.

"There wasn't an adequate urban development plan. Rather they brought thousands of people here in a very short period of time," Father Rosas said.

Water problems have been rife. As the wells in the region have been exploited, Chalco sunk by 25 feet, according to researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The sinking aggravated the recent floods because the nearby canal carrying untreated wastewater once was at a lower elevation than the populated areas. Now it's at a higher elevation and, because of poor maintenance, it has burst its banks twice in the last decade.

Unfortunately, fixing the canal and other water problems has not been a priority, Father Rosas said, even though promises were made after flooding 10 years ago.

Promises to fix the canal were made again after the February flood, but Father Rosas and other Chalco residents have expressed skepticism. They point to a giant deep drainage pipe being built by the federal government on the east side of Mexico City that promises to reduce the risk of catastrophic flooding, but has been behind schedule and is the subject of political squabbling between the federal and city governments.

"What's the priority: fix these problems or stage political campaigns? This is part of the reflection that we must have," Father Rosas said.

The priest turned his St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish and a nearby community center into a shelter for those flooded out where church volunteers served 4,000 meals per day. He also helped organized a "radio-thon" with students from the Jesuit-run Iberoamerican University in Mexico City to collect basics such as cleaning supplies and household items for displaced residents.

Larrondo said her family received roughly $1,600 in vouchers from the state and federal governments, along with a few bags of cement.

"It barely covers anything," she said, explaining that her family had to replace appliances and rebuild the roasting pits for their taco business.

Still, her family plans on staying put, even though she expresses little confidence that the flooding problem will be resolved.

"We've been here for so long ... where else would we go?" she asked.

END

Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250