NewsWhore
10-20-2011, 03:30 PM
Residents of the area around Arzobispo Merino and General Gregorio Luperon streets had a troubled night on Tuesday after the collapse of the second floor of the building on the east side of the intersection. "It could have been me," said Abad Bernardo Pena, "no one around here could eat or sleep." Three people were injured in the collapse, including Minorka Torres who suffered serious injuries to her left leg that might require amputation.
Juan Emilio Martinez, whose business and house are right next door to the collapsed building, told Diario Libre how at the moment of the event he felt a sort of explosive wave. "I thought the ground was shaking," Martinez said that since he owns his building, he has improved it in certain areas, such as the roof, the beams, the columns and the floor, but he is still afraid. "The house is similar to the one that fell down," he said.
To the dramatic mood it is possible to add other recent collapses that went unnoticed because there were no victims. "The roof caved in at the colmado that used to be at the corner of Isabel La Catolica and Gregorio Luperon, and since no lives were lost, people just went elsewhere, but this happened with nobody taking any notice," said Martinez. The same thing happened with the building on the southeastern side of the intersection of Arzobispo Merino and General Gregorio Luperon, which shows the re-bars and inside, according to the neighbors, "it scares you." At the same time, Benito Garcia, a tenant for more than 43 years, says that in all the time he has been living in the area, none of the authorities has come by to resolve the problem of these houses. "Year after year, they talk about the same thing and never do anything. This type of thing happens and some time goes by and it is forgotten once more," he said.
Statements by the executive director of the Historical Center for the City Government of the National District (ADN), Xiomara Espaillat are even more worrisome. According to Espaillat, 72 buildings have been identified as "public dangers," based on an October 2010 study that was solely based on observations of the exterior of the buildings, so it can be expected that even more of the buildings could be in danger of collapse. In addition, only ten of the owners of the 72 buildings listed by the ADN have been established, which makes repairs even more difficult. And even worse, the City Council was not able to find out how many families are living in each of the buildings.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
Juan Emilio Martinez, whose business and house are right next door to the collapsed building, told Diario Libre how at the moment of the event he felt a sort of explosive wave. "I thought the ground was shaking," Martinez said that since he owns his building, he has improved it in certain areas, such as the roof, the beams, the columns and the floor, but he is still afraid. "The house is similar to the one that fell down," he said.
To the dramatic mood it is possible to add other recent collapses that went unnoticed because there were no victims. "The roof caved in at the colmado that used to be at the corner of Isabel La Catolica and Gregorio Luperon, and since no lives were lost, people just went elsewhere, but this happened with nobody taking any notice," said Martinez. The same thing happened with the building on the southeastern side of the intersection of Arzobispo Merino and General Gregorio Luperon, which shows the re-bars and inside, according to the neighbors, "it scares you." At the same time, Benito Garcia, a tenant for more than 43 years, says that in all the time he has been living in the area, none of the authorities has come by to resolve the problem of these houses. "Year after year, they talk about the same thing and never do anything. This type of thing happens and some time goes by and it is forgotten once more," he said.
Statements by the executive director of the Historical Center for the City Government of the National District (ADN), Xiomara Espaillat are even more worrisome. According to Espaillat, 72 buildings have been identified as "public dangers," based on an October 2010 study that was solely based on observations of the exterior of the buildings, so it can be expected that even more of the buildings could be in danger of collapse. In addition, only ten of the owners of the 72 buildings listed by the ADN have been established, which makes repairs even more difficult. And even worse, the City Council was not able to find out how many families are living in each of the buildings.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)