Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR

12. Building Trust
mation generated in the course of the reconstruction;
Trust between institutions and communities involved in
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any social program is a key factor to success. As mentioned
earlier, in Panabaj and Tz’anchaj, trust was de-
national and departmental levels to ensure the
Conduct public events on accountability at the
stroyed when some in the military killed members of public was kept informed about the project’s
the community in 1990. For that reason, strong measures
were taken to restore trust and encourage the accountability mechanisms;
progress and its impact, in addition to traditional
community to participate and help oversee the process.
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Promote extensive social auditing so as to obtain
These measures are described below.
the views/complaints of individuals and organized
groups and ensure that any alleged act of
Establishing the participation network and
corruption was detected and punished according
strengthening the social fabric
to the laws.
Citizen participation and strengthening the social fabric
were key to restoring trust in the Government and Given this commitment, it was possible to facilitate
implementing the Reconstruction with Transformation transparent, swift, competitive, and publicly audited
policy.
procedures. In Sololá and Panabaj, transparency measures
were adopted at both the municipal and departmental
levels. To this end, representatives from the
As noted above, residents of Santiago Atitlán had experienced
several major upheavals in recent times—the Commission of Reconstruction, Housing and Basic
1976 earthquake, nearly 36 years of internal armed conflict,
and wide-scale destruction from Tropical Storm Development Council (COMUDE) and the Commu-
Services presented monthly reports to the Municipal
Stan. These factors, exacerbated by poverty and the isolation
caused when the road was blocked by landslides, construction work, its location, costs, starting and endnity
Development Council (COCODE), listing each
severely strained community relations and weakened ing dates, names of the construction companies, and
the social fabric.
progress. This process was reinforced by the local social
audit, which provided management and the reconstruction
team with accurate information about the situation
When the resettlement process began, there was serious
mistrust among community groups and political on the ground, so the ministries could deal with issues
parties and between government authorities and the related to the contractors’ compliance.
community. Thus, it was crucial to create a dialogue
among community leaders and authorities so as to
promote a sense of partnership and heal the divisions. 13. Selecting Resettlement Sites
A huge effort was also made to restore relations between
the central government and municipality and
and Acquiring Land
Based on the results of the assessment of landslide and
between them and community leaders by creating a
detritus flows in Santiago Atitlán—particularly in the
commission with a uniform proposal and vision for
Panabaj and Tz’achaj communities—commissioned
rebuilding Santiago.
by CONRED (2006), it was determined that the entire
municipality of Santiago, and especially Panabaj and
Establishing agreements on transparency
Tz’anchaj, were highly vulnerable to floods and landslides
and declared it an “uninhabitable emergency
To achieve the goals pursued in the participatory process
and rehabilitate the social fabric, it was essential zone.” The findings implied that the land donated by the
to reach an agreement on transparency. To that end, Catholic Church, where houses were being built, was
in February 2006, the President and ministers publicly also located in a high-risk area.
committed to:
One outcome of the open assembly for the 230 families
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Facilitate unrestricted access to all public infor- living in shelters was the establishment of the Negotia-
Chapter 6 The First Tz´utujil City of the Twenty-First Century | Guatemala |
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