More than 4,000 public buildings and cultural spaces that were damaged in the powerful earthquakes of September 2017 and February 2018 have still not been repaired.

According to the federal government’s National Reconstruction Program website, 4,153 schools, hospitals and cultural spaces including churches are awaiting repairs.

The buildings are located in 11 states that were affected by the September 7, 2017 earthquake in southern Mexico, the temblor that shook central Mexico 12 days later and the quake on February 16, 2018 in Oaxaca.

The states are Chiapas, Mexico City, Guerrero, Hidalgo, México state, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tabasco, Tlaxcala and Veracruz.

Of the more than 4,000 buildings awaiting repairs, 3,077 are in schools, 1,055 are cultural spaces and 21 are hospitals.

About one-third of the school buildings that remain damaged are in México state. Many schools in Oaxaca, Puebla and Morelos are also awaiting repairs.

In Morelos, where some earthquake victims remain homeless three years after their homes collapsed, there are 216 cultural buildings waiting to be fixed, more than in any other state.

The government website says that almost 30 billion pesos (US $1.4 billion) was allocated to repair 42,642 homes, health care facilities, schools and cultural buildings.

All 34,604 homes included in the reconstruction program have been repaired or rebuilt as have 95 health care facilities, 3,165 schools and 625 cultural buildings, according to the site.

The federal government provided financial aid to people whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the 2017 earthquakes but some victims claimed that they didn’t receive the money they were entitled to while other said they were defrauded of the funds by unscrupulous construction companies.

The Federal Auditor’s Office said in late 2018 that the government’s census to assess damage and identify victims after the twin devastating earthquakes of September 2017 was incomplete and hindered the distribution of financial aid.

Source: El Universal (sp)