2024-03-22 10:26:19
“They have had the ability to detach themselves from the responsibility they have and go from being responsible to becoming victims,” said Álvaro Hormazábal.
The former director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), Álvaro Hormazábal, defended his management during the forest fires in the Valparaíso Region, while reiterating his criticism of the mayors of Viña del Mar and QuilpuéMacarena Ripamonti (RD) and Valeria Melipillán (CS)respectively.
According to what was stated by the former official, both community leaders were left “totally paralyzed” as a result of the emergency, and “In the first days”, these municipalities “were completely collapsed, they did not know what to do”.
Álvaro Hormazábal spoke about the issue during the interview he gave to Radio Cooperativa, when he explained that the Senapred system “It is made up of a series of gears and one of those are the municipalities“.
Roles and functions of each gear
“Everyone has roles and functions to fulfill and you realize that it is clear that there is a main failure here, which is that the municipalities have not fulfilled. That They have had the ability to detach themselves from the responsibility they have and go from being responsible to becoming victims. and make the State and the Government assume roles and activities that correspond to them,” he stated on the occasion.
He delved into the topic and stated that “for us it has been very complex, because, since They have more than 2,000 officials, we, as Senapred, with 16 officials (heads in regions), have had to assume roles and tasks that should be done at the municipal level.“, he asserted.
For the former director of Senapred, in Villa Alemana he had a completely opposite experience, which is why valued the work of Mayor Javiera Toledo (Ind).
“From the moment the emergency occurred, when I went to the field, I talked to people and I was told The municipal trucks arrived here, they evacuated us, they helped us get out.“, Hormazábal revealed.
“Then we had to set up the emergency houses and the mayor made us available. Here are the lands for you to build, and we built 18 houses in two days. We work alongside them“, he highlighted.
Criticism of the municipalities of Viña and Quilpué
On the contrary, according to the former director of Senapred, In Viña del Mar and Quilpué “we had to send more than 40 officials from our service to the field, from lawyers to those who made the purchase order”.
“We had to stop making purchases to be able to go look for land to build on, because We didn’t have land, no one assigned us, no one told us to build here.“he stressed.
Alvaro Homazábal stated that “we had to survey the site specifically and prioritize ourselves, since the municipality has to tell us: I need the house here. We had to do that work, finish installing the services, something we had never done before.“, he questioned.
When they asked him if he realized that Both municipalities were overwhelmed by the fires, he did not hesitate to respond that “totally.”.
“The first days were totally collapsed. They didn’t know what to do and now they are at a stage where they say I need you to take care of me, to help me. I am a victim and the State has to come and help me. I think that is complex, because Thus the system cannot work. They are part of the system that has to be part of the answer“, he stated.
Demand and “more pressure” on municipalities
Hormazábal preferred not to refer to the versions that indicate that His dismissal responded to a maneuver to save two municipalities from criticism related to the Government.
“What I do want to say is that we have a role in the law, which establishes a role for us in its supervision. AND, If we see that something is being done wrong, we have to make it present; that is our obligation. And within that role We realized that the municipalities were not doing what they should and do not continue to do so to this day.“, he assured.
“It has been necessary to demand and put more pressure on the municipalities to exercise their role“concluded the former director of Senapred.