Loures PSD council calls in “riot police” to force demolitions (for story that appeared in our paper edition, see below)
At a moment when politics and national media is focused on the housing crisis, and how to resolve it, a council in Greater Lisbon has moved forwards with the eviction seven families from their shanty-type dwellings by simply demolishing them.
There is no solution as to where the extremely vulnerable families will live – the majority of them led by single mothers with no permanent forms of employment.
The demolition was scheduled for 9am this morning – and luck (plus media focus) had it that the people ‘won’ a temporary reprieve.
But the inordinately heavy police presence – at least one agent armed with a large shotgun – focused on clearing a path for the demolition vehicle – heralded what was to come.
Representatives from the association Habita told reporters that none of the families at risk actively chose to live in the ramshackle structures due for demolition; they are simply the only forms of assuring a roof over their heads in the “barbarity of a system that simply defends property and profit, and throws people in increasingly unsustainable situations of poverty onto the streets”.
As it is, only seven shanties have received demolition notices when the site, close to Bairro do Talude, in Catujal, has as many as 30 (all of them extremely precariously built and unlikely to withstand high winds or repel heavy rain).
Among people losing their only form of shelter today is “an ill pregnant woman (awaiting heart surgery), a very sick old man, five young children and two newborns”. All the victims of this eviction are of São Tomé / Guinean origins (former Portuguese colonies).
The families received notice from the Social Democrat led council that their homes were to be demolished this morning – thus all stayed put, as the only way they imagined they might be able to save them.
“While the government entertains us with the chaotic launching of muddled measures for housing that fail to address fundamental problems, and the causes of the housing crisis, evictions and the housing emergency continue to make themselves felt, and people are thrown into the streets by the State itself”, railed Habita.
Approached for a statement, Loures municipality declined, saying it will be releasing one later.
Habita representative Maria João added that she herself has looked into the possibility of rentals in the area, finding only prospects starting at €700 a month, usually higher. These are prices that families in Bairro do Talude could not hope to afford, even when members are earning.
Maria João stressed this is not simply a problem for Loures municipality; if Loures cannot rehouse these people, the State should step in. But to simply throw them out of the only home they know is “beyond human”.
When she said this, it was believed demolition had been stymied. Shortly afterwards two brigades of “polícia de choque” arrived, and the demolitions began.
PAPER EDITION STORY:
Riot police ensure shanty home demolitions
Loures || At a moment when politics and national media are focused on the housing crisis, and how to resolve it, a council in Greater Lisbon has moved forwards with the eviction of seven families by simply demolishing their homes.
Two brigades of riot police were called in to ‘control the families’ while the shanty-type dwellings in Bairro do Talude, Catujal, were pulverised.
As reports early on Monday morning explained, there is no long-term solution for these extremely vulnerable people, the majority of them unemployed single mothers with children.
Representatives from association Habita stress that none of them actively chose to live in the ramshackle structures they called home; they were simply the only forms of assuring a roof over their heads in the “barbarity of a system that defends property and profit, and throws people in increasingly unsustainable situations of poverty onto the streets”.
Among those made homeless by the afternoon were “an ill pregnant woman (awaiting heart surgery), a very sick old man, five young children and two newborns”.
“While the government entertains us with the chaotic launching of muddled measures for housing that fail to address fundamental problems, and the causes of the housing crisis, evictions and the housing emergency continue to make themselves felt, and people are thrown into the streets by the State itself,” railed Habita.
One of the women forced to watch her only shelter reduced to bits of chipboard told reporters with palpable fury that she and her baby will now sleep in the mud, where their home used to stand, “for the prime minister to see what has happened to us, and to seven other mothers!”
Loures municipality, meantime, has ‘assured’ temporary accommodation of the families “until Friday”.
