President leads the “tijerales” roof topping ceremony at the Santa Cruz housing development
The President joined workers and families in the O’Higgins region, during the second activity of his tour of the reconstruction work in Chile.
The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, accompanied by the First Lady, led the “tijerales” roof topping ceremony at the Las Garzas housing development in the municipality of Santa Cruz in the O’Higgins region this morning during the first day of his tour of the reconstruction work in Chile.
The President emphasized that “today I can truly say that thanks to the hard work of everyone in Chile – because this is not just a government initiative, but the result of the hard work of an entire country – we have succeeded in rebuilding two-thirds of the infrastructure that was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami two years ago.”
The President congratulated the construction workers “for building these excellent homes. I know that you have spent months travelling Chile, working hard to build homes that will mean a new start in life for thousands of Chilean families.”
President Piñera added that the Las Garzas housing development, which consists of 544 homes “is a unique development because, while the ground floor measures 57 square meters, there are 65 square meters upstairs, thanks to the additional attic space, making these houses considerably larger than is usual for social housing. Furthermore, these homes are well-built, because each and every Chilean family deserves a home where they can live in peace, assured in the knowledge that they will be safe in winter when it rains or in the event of another earthquake.”
These new homes, built for the families affected by the earthquake of February 27, 2010, are distributed in 68 three-story modules. Each module has four units on the ground floor and four more on the first floor with the additional attic space. Each home has three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, dining room, separate utility room and private patio which leads to the street, as well as shared facilities including a community hall, a sports pitch and three play areas.