Venezuela Plans Temporary Housing After Devastating Earthquakes

Authorities in Venezuela are planning to set up temporary accommodation for families who lost their homes in last month's devastating earthquakes, from which the death toll has now risen to at least 4,490.

The announcement was made on Saturday by Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of acting President Delcy Rodriguez.

He did not say how many people were still unaccounted for, but the United Nations has estimated that 50,000 people are still missing.

Rodriguez rejected suggestions that the government would suspend the search for bodies in a bid to allay families' fears that the rubble would be cleared indiscriminately.

Venezuela: how powerful were the earthquakes?

The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes which hit the capital, Caracas, and the coastal state of La Guaira, on June 24 razed entire high-rise apartment blocks to the ground.

Over 850 buildings lie in ruins or have been severely damaged and more than 19,000 people have been forced to live in makeshift camps set up in sports stadiums, schools or on squares or sidewalks.

But the schools in particular will have to be vacated once the new academic year begins in September, with initial government estimates indicating that about 25,000 homes will be needed to house people.

Rodriguez said the government has allocated more than 40 plots of land in La Guaira state, amounting to approximately 584,000 square meters, for the construction of new homes.

Venezuela: government requesting financial resources

He warned however that significant resources will be needed for reconstruction, as well as for rental assistance and property purchase loans.

To this end, interim President Delcy Rodriguez this week officially requested that the Bank of England release Venezuela's gold reserves.

"This gold belongs to our people and should be used to serve them," she said, while also asking the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release financial resources held for emergency use.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez