According to Angel Paredes, Director of Urban Community Development for the NGO Ciudad Alternativa, 86.86% of the homes in the Ozama region are classified as medium or high-risk and 10,758 houses are irrecoverable as they have been built using very poor materials or have been constructed in uninhabitable areas.
Between 2011 and 2012 the organization has managed to transfer 350 families from La Cienaga and Los Guandules to other areas and another 150 homes have been repaired.
Since February, with the help of the European Union, Ciudad Alternativa is rolling out the Healthy and Sustainable Habitat Project in 10 neighborhoods on the banks of the Ozama river, focusing on cleaning up the 46 streams in the area from Simon Bolivar up to La Cienaga on the western banks and from Los Tres Brazos to El Dique on the east.
Ciudad Alternativa Executive Director Roman Batista said that the aim is to satisfy the demands of the population for quality services to live a decent life such as drinking water, small bridges and pedestrian access as well as home improvements.
According to their data, in the Ozama region (Los Mina Viejo, Los Tres Brazos, Ensanche Ozama, 24 de Abril, Simon Bolivar, Gualey and Domingo Savio), there is a housing deficit of 32,153 units, as well as an increase in poverty from 2002 to 2012.
www.diariolibre.com/economia/2014/04/29/i586801_700-casas-ribera-del-ozama-son-irrecuperables.html