Chavez tells hotels to shelter flood homeless

[Judi Lynn]

Chavez tells hotels to shelter flood homeless
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press – 36 mins ago

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that he would force privately owned hotels to help shelter tens of thousands of Venezuelans who have left their homes due to floods and mudslides caused by weeks of torrential rains.

"I want the tourism hotels," Chavez said during a visit to the coastal state of Miranda. He said his government would pay for flood victims to remain at the hotels until the rains subside. "We will occupy them under lease."

Chavez also announced that his government would build apartments near Simon Bolivar International Airport, the country's largest and busiest airport, and other residential complexes inside El Avila National Park, a mountainous swath of land separating Caracas from the coast.

He lashed out at the opposition, which has criticized the government's handling of the floods. He said wealthy Venezuelans have done little to help ease the effects of the floods.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_floods

[social_critic]

1. Very adhoc response, isn't it?

Let's see:

1. They are going to put people in tourism hotels "until the rains subside" - that should be around the end of December. Which means the tourist season is ruined. When the rains subside isn't the answer either, because if an area was flooded, then the houses aren't going to be in very good shape. So it's going to be interesting to see where those people will go after the rains subside.

2. Building on National Park areas sure sounds short sighted. That national park has been protected by governments of all stripes for a long time. It's a mountain chain separating the Caracas valley from the coast, and rises as high as 8 thousand feet. The mountains aver very steep, and in 1999 there were huge landslides in the area up to the park boundary, in which it is estimated more than 20,000 people died. Building higher up the slope will require that trees be cut down, and will lead to soil erosion. So I guess we're starting to see the area turn into another Haiti. All their need is a large quake to make the whole mess tumbling down.

3. Building apartment buildings near the Airport sure sounds interesting. The runways run parallel to the coast,and planes already have to make an approach close to existing buildings. Putting more buildings near the airport isn't that practical, unless they happen to be very short (say 2 to 4 stories).

This is a sampler of the ad-hoc nature of the way things are done in Venezuela. But it's a good sampler, and helps explain why the country's economy is shrinking, why there is so much inflation, and why there is so much crime.