A school without gas in the middle of the cold wave. That is the situation at the Parque Chacabuco headquarters of the Vocational Art Institute (VAT) Manuel José de Labardén, whose cooperator carried out a “blanket” to demand that the Buenos Aires Government carry out the necessary works to enable the gas connection. It is that Metrogas cut off the supply two weeks ago after warning for a year that specific work was needed to guarantee the safety of the facility and now the institute was left without service. After the protest, the community obtained a first commitment from the GCBA and they hope that the works can begin next week.
The traditional art educational center, with more than a hundred years of history, is divided into three locations: the central one, in the Constitución neighborhood, another in Parque Avellaneda, and a third at 1026 Curapaligüe Street, in Parque Chacabuco. There works a Kinder garden and, in parallel, countershift artistic workshops for boys and girls of primary and secondary school age. Every day around two thousand male and female studentswho have been suffering from a lack of stoves for two weeks.
“It is a very difficult situation because, although in recent weeks we had a more or less temperate climate, now With the cold the problem becomes much worse“, he says Page 12 Pablo Goldring, vice president of the VAT Cooperation. The climate outlook, furthermore, is not the best: in the city Minimum temperatures are coming that will touch zero degreesas announced by the National Meteorological Service.
In this scenario, the educational community staged a “frazadazo” at the door of the VAT to demand answers from the Buenos Aires Government. “We began to deepen the claims these weeks once we knew that the cut was a fact. The authorities had already been demanding the works but there was never a response. Metrogas says that cutting the service is the only way it can force the Government to activate: They cut the key so they can do it“, warns for his part Eugenia Correspresident of the cooperative.
The conflict dates back to a year ago, when the company carried out a review of the educational center’s gas installations. They found there that they were needed ventilation works In closed places, incorporate grills to the stoves and specific work on a smoke extraction hood located in the institute’s kitchen. “They were given a deadline to carry out these works, but there has been no news since then.“, Goldring says. A year later, Metrogas workers showed up at the site and cut off the service.
The protest seems to have been a first step to unblock the situation. The General Directorate of Artistic Education (Dgeart) of the Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for VAT and other artistic educational centers in the city, informed the institute that next week the first works would begin testing of the gas installation to begin the works. “We have the perspective that the conflict could be resolved. There was an exchange with the Dgeart and, in principle, there is an agreement for the Monday start“says Corrés.
Page 12 sources were contacted culture Ministry to inquire about the situation and they responded that an inspection will be carried out next Monday to “return service“. Besides confirmed that the supply was cut off by Metrogas for “inconveniences“which they claim to have already fixed. They also pointed out that the kindergarten classrooms, for example, have air conditioners that can be used in the absence of gas. The cooperative maintains that they will remain vigilant to ensure that the commitment is fulfilled: “We remain on alert to guarantee that the works are completed in a timely manner”they warned.
The conflict over the lack of gas also occurs within the framework of another claim that the members of the Labardén community have been maintaining for years, and which revolves around a room of almost two thousand square meters, located next to the building where the garden and workshops operate today, almost below the 25 de Mayo highway. They assure that the space is part of the VAT ejido from its original plans, but that it was “usurped” for years by a retirement center.
“It is a center that was linked to the PROthey even got to the point of being made partisan parties there, but two years ago, through an investigation by the cooperator, it was found asbestos “in the living room. The place was cleaned up with a fairly large amount of work to remove the material and at that time the centre that was occupying the space could be removed,” says Goldring.
Since then, the cooperative has been demanding that the Buenos Aires government take charge of carrying out the works necessary to refurbish the hall and make it ready for use by the institution. They indicate that the place requires, for example, renovation work. reconstruction of the roofs and readjustment of the electrical wiring. “With the demand of boys and girls that there is between the three IVA headquarters, a space like this is super necessary, but the Management continues to delay the decision to put it into value,” Goldring laments.
