The US build walls to keep people out, Brazil builds walls to keep people in!

[Steve_A]

Hi Everybody,

The State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is to build 3 meter high walls to contain the slums that in that city are growing at an alarming rate.

Home of many drug dealers the walls are being justified by protecting the local forests and wildlife from further expansion of the slums, however in reality they would also protect the dealers within.

In a 'Tale of Two Cities' scenario which in effect will separate the slums from the rich suburbs, there is always going to be the possibility of a pressure pan effect which eventually will lead to further problems down the road.

The local government admits that the slums are growing in a disorganized manner, but instead of using the opportunity to organize, choose to hide the problem and stem growth - organized or not. The problem is not that the slums will invade the local greenbelt, that is the consequence. The problem is that there is no organization or urban planning in the area.

So whilst the US is building walls and fences to keep people out, in Rio de Janeiro they're building walls to keep people in.

http://blig.ig.com.br/blogdocarioca/2009/03/31/rio-comeca-a-limitar-favelas-com-muros/

Best regards,

Steve

[Antaletriangle]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/01/rio-slums-walls-deforestation
Ayup Steve!
Simply illustrating your post steve with a mainstream English news slant on this...

The Rio state government will build concrete walls around some of the city's biggest slums in an attempt to halt deforestation of the surrounding jungle, officials said yesterday.

Seven miles of walls, reaching a height of three metres (10ft) will be built around sections of at least 11 slums this year, Icaro Moreno, the president of the state's public works department, said.

The project will cost $17m (£12m).

Standing in the Dona Marta slum, in the shadow of Rio's famous Christ statue, Moreno pointed out a section of the first wall under construction. Work began a few weeks ago.

"Each year that passes, we're losing more of the Atlantic rainforest," he said. "Now we're setting limits on where these communities can expand."

In December, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, which monitors forest destruction, reported that, between 2005 and 2008, the deforestation of Rio's urban rainforest doubled compared with the previous three years.

About 205 hectares (506 acres) were destroyed in that time, with officials blaming most of the destruction on the expansion of slums as more newcomers arrived from Brazil's interior.

Moreno said that around 600 houses in the 11 slums would have to be destroyed to make way for the walls. People living in the homes wiould be provided with new housing, he added.

Some rights groups suggested the walls are being constructed to segregate the slums from the richer areas of Rio, Many slums‚ called favelas‚ are built on the steep mountains that dot Rio's landscape and look down on wealthy beachfront areas.

However, Moreno rejected the criticism, saying the only objective was to protect the rainforest.

In Dona Marta, Maria da Graçca Martins da Silva, who has spent most of her 62 years living in the slum, said: "We don't feel imprisoned. But I wonder about one thing – is this wall going to curtail our freedom? I hope not."

[alyscat]

At the risk of offending, it reminds me a bit of the pogroms.
alys