Frustration and tiredness; Tabasco victims ask for help after rains

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After having suffered losses due to the floods, the people of Tabasco now face an ordeal to be able to collect the Welfare aid vouchers at the Villahermosa Convention Center

Pushing, crowding, long lines, slow attention, and of course, risk of contagion from Covid 19, were new factors for Tabasco citizens who went to the Villahermosa Convention Center on Thursday to collect their voucher from the Ministry of Welfare.

And it is that according to Mrs. Martha Alicia López Jiménez and Mr. Trinidad Jiménez, although there have been other floods and strong contingencies, in none have they suffered more than in this one that occurred due to the intense rains that occurred weeks ago.

Both are part of the thousands of people who are affected at the moment and who are fighting to receive their voucher of 10,000 pesos to replace something of the household goods they lost in these floods.

At 57 years of age, Mrs. Martha, resident of the Boquerón Third Section ranch, as best she could move to the Convention Center since yesterday since her home had been previously registered by staff from the Welfare Secretariat.

However, until 12 noon this Thursday, her turn to be attended had not yet come and she remained in the back of the Convention Center, near the bank branches that are located there.

“Almost the majority of my entire community was affected, we were barely allowed to get the water out in time,” she says with a broken voice that shows the desperation to remain in line for several hours and still be away from the window where she will be seen.

He acknowledges that Boquerón has always suffered from this type of situation in the rainy season, although this time it took them by surprise.

“We have always been flooded, in 2007 we went up to the top of the houses and lost everything, even our mattresses; now what went into the water was my stove that I couldn’t get it out and my furniture got wet, “he says.

López Jiménez comments that he is dedicated to housework and this year has been very difficult for them, because with this situation of the pandemic they don’t even have enough to eat.

“I have two sons and a grandson, they too went into the water,” he adds as he advances a few meters in line; “Here we are in the queue until the end, and we arrived since last night, but you know how this is since last night we are here.”

She acknowledges that the attention of some government agencies has been good because she only went with her umbrella, but at night they were sent quilts and blankets.

“Until today they could bring me my chair to sit for a while because I suffer from varicose veins and my feet hurt a lot,” he says.

Martha Alicia arrived on Wednesday at 5 in the afternoon, and there were already many people occupying a place in line that for her was already endless.

For his part, Mr. Trinidad Jiménez arrived at 5 in the morning this Thursday and the queue was much larger.

Coming from Ixtacomitán, he arrived accompanied by some of his relatives who were also affected by the floods.

“Many lost their things because the water entered the houses and the level reached one and a half meters,” he says.

He points out that this had been seen only in the 2007 flood, where the level was much higher but the support came faster.

For this reason, his home was registered and he was told to go to the Convention Center to cash his voucher, which is why he arrived at dawn this Thursday.

“A niece came to sleep here and gave us the place, but even so, the queue is long,” says Don Trinidad.

In addition to losing his things, he will have to face the problem of lack of employment, since he has no income for 6 months.

“I am a street vendor in the Tomás Garrido park, but I had to close because there is no sale, there I am dedicated to the sale of Hot Dog and fresh water but we have not had a job for 6 months, meanwhile we are passing it with the help of God”, manifests.

Like them, hundreds of families have their own reasons to consider this one of the worst tragedies in their memory, since they cannot ignore the problems that the health contingency has brought.

Source: elsoldemexico.com.mx

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