Liliana Cardona Marín
In an unprecedented event, last Tuesday night and with the support of 800 of the 1,038 merchants located between Calles 20 to 35 and from Carrera 4 to 10, they formalized the birth of the Pereira Segura initiative.
The bodies responsible for citizen order were summoned to the presentation ceremony: the Secretariats of Government, Social Development and Infrastructure, Ombudsman, National Police, Atesa de Occidente, ICBF, Colombian Migration and Chamber of Commerce. The entire launch was very well thought out, from the registration of the attendees, the hydration and the visualization of each one of the problems that the citizens of the center suffer.
The architects of such scaffolding were Cristian Vélez and Luis Ernesto Gómez, the latter was the one who acted as master of ceremony and called one by one of the representatives to go to the main table. Israel Londoño, Alex Venegas, on behalf of Karen Zape, the Undersecretary of Security Milton Bello arrived, Hugo Forero arrived on behalf of the president of the Chamber of Commerce and from then on the absentee fair (Ángela Rubio, Milton Hurtado, Sandra Cárdenas, Fabio Salazar, Claudia Patricia Serna and Hernando Ferrucho).
What is Pereira Segura?
“For me it is very sad to call the regulatory entities and that not even an emissary is present, when they were sent an invitation letter to listen to the citizens, who are the ones who always support many people and we thought we would receive the same attention. Pereira is not just security and a police uniform”, this is how Luis Gómez began this meeting. The merchants suffocated by the street inhabitants urged the presence of Social Development.
The presenter of this project continued: “It is even sadder to be paying and paying taxes without seeing the benefits”, because they also urgently needed Infrastructure, since insecurity goes hand in hand with poor public lighting in many streets, when the receipt does Arrive on time every month. “Whenever you make a call they tell you: look at the nomenclature that the lamp has (which is not seen) with the number we make the file and immediately send to have it installed. We have the evidence that they never arrived and we had to put it up to us ”.
The merchants observe the instrumentalization of minors for begging, they know that it is not up to the police either, but what do they do if the ICBF does not appear either? In this exhibition it was also revealed that they make calls to Migration, “When I travel, the first thing I find is an agent who asks me what I am going to do in that country, here we see a foreigner and we think he is very nice. We know that the crime issue is 60% foreigners. The bandit is not going to go to Migration, to what? How did he get in? Who is he? “.
Social Development conspicuous by its absence
The great absentee of the night was the person in charge of this office, or failing that, a representative, and that is that although all those attending the Areandina auditorium know that homeless people cannot be forced to go to rehabilitation centers, nor is it the responsibility of the policemen to wake up with each one of them. Traders wonder why public space is present and those in charge of offering them a shower, clean clothes, food and a decent bed are not.
It was proposed that at the entrance of each establishment the benefits that this Secretariat can provide to each street inhabitant be set, because that is what the assigned resources that citizens pay are for.
the survey
Pereira today is the point and scourge of crime due to the lack of guarantees. “For us as businessmen to see that our businesses are visited less every day because of fear, because of theft. This is a pilot plan, Cristian and I are not going to give up and we hope you don’t give up either”. The importance of commitment, love and respect for the city to continue was highlighted.
In the survey that they carried out among their union, it says: ‘Rate from 0 to 10, where 0 feels unsafe and 10 feels safe’, the answers did not reach 4.5. In the measurement there are no false data, because each merchant filled it out in his own handwriting.
criminals migrate
Colonel Alex Venegas said: “When we chase them in Ciudad Victoria they go up to La Libertad park, if we attack them there they move to El Lago park and so on, the criminal dynamics.
Cipher
76 homeless people were consulted by the Social Development programs, only one answered that he had been there two years ago, but they removed him due to lack of budget.
Given
The merchants feel sad for having done a job that is ‘so boorish’, as they say, and not counting on the massive reception.
How do you see security in Pereira?
Israel Londoño – Secretary Government of Risaralda
“We believe that state institutions must join forces to improve the security conditions of the inhabitants and merchants of the center, it is undoubtedly a critical area.”
Luis Ernesto Gómez – promoter Pereira Segura
“This project was born two months ago due to the insecurity that we Pereirans are experiencing. We need communication between ourselves and improving it is the idea”.
Milton Bello – Undersecretary Security
“In 2022 we advance 94 community meetings, this would be the 27 of 2023. The objective is to listen to the citizens in the four situations of security and coexistence that are presented and to advance the solutions among all”.
Colonel Alex Venegas – Metropolitan Police
“It is important to differentiate between objective and subjective security. In the objective we have reduced impact crimes in the center. However, there are factors unrelated to the issue of security and generate a perception of insecurity as the street inhabitant.