Evening star., 1938-10-02
$4,000, 900 Is A|Iocated to
Wipe Out Sordid Urban
Districts.

Rlc0S SlumS is one Of the most acute
problems facing the island as whole
and the city of San Juan in particu.
lar, according to studies made by the
Puerto Rican Reconstruction Admin
istration. Slums of the worst char.
acter in and around San Juan are sale
to be increasing at an alarming rate
In most of the other IS island munich
palities there are blighted areas which
house even larger proportion of the
population than are quartered IN San
Juan'S Sums
Able to Multiply Work.
In setting aside $l2,OOO,OO0 to help
correct these conditions, the U. S
H. A. will be able to multiply by many
times the amount of work already dont
in the island in recent years 10 pro.
vide more satisfactory shelter for hun.
dreds of thousands of slum dwellers
The money will go much further ir
Puerto Rico than in the United States
BY reasons of cheaper construction
and mildness of climate, it will be
equivalent to thrice that expended In
most American cities.
Under the Puerto Rico housing
authorities law, passed at the last ses-
sion of Congress, the Puerto Rico
Authority may exercise jurisdiction IN
certain municipalities For that rea-
son the U. S. H. A. has set aside Tor
it s8,0O0,000. For the San Juan
authority it has earmarked $4,000, 900
and. in addition. the sum of 1000, ,0OO
has been reserved for Ponce. This was
done at the request of Gov. Blanton
Winship.
Although plans are still in the
formative stage, it is understood that
the insular authority will spread the
housing projects among those cities
which are in the greatest need Tor
slum clearance or reclamation.
The population of Puerto Rico is
estimated to be more than 500 persons
to a square mile. 1t is growing stead
lily. The island, no doubt, is the Ma
tion's No. ! economic problem among
its insular possessions.
Improvised Shelter Cited.
In connection with the population
problem the Puerto Rican Reconstruc-
ton Administration reported:
With the pressure of island popu-
lation, which will shortly reach 2.OO0,-
600 persons in an already overcroWded
country suffering the i'll effects OF eco
nomic depression and the consequent
acceptance of low social standards
it is not surprising that the low-income
group is forced into jmprovised shelter
With the prevailing high rental
rates in San Juan and Santurce. as
well as other cites in the island. there
is no alternative for these poor peo-
pie but to look to the sWamps around
the bay and lagoons Of San Juan or
on the outskirts Of other cities as a
refuge to throw together their humble
shacks"
Although Puerto Rico's sluns are
dignified with such mellifluous names
as La Perla," "Miraf1ores." Ma
rina," San Ciprian" and "Melilla,
they are teeming mass of shacks in
pied with a complete lack of sanitary
facilities, they furnish fertile breeding
ground for disease Like all slun
areas they constitute a draining cost
for policing and relief measures.
Families in Slums Double.
A survey of the San Juan-Santurct
area two years ago disclosed that l:
slum districts housed 3345 families
Since then, however, some of thes'
areas have doubled in size and a re.
cent survey showed they now contain
II ,420 families, or about Is per cen
more than the 1895 study disclosed
A survey of the 1925 families livini
in the La Perla" area in 1885 dis.
closed that incomes range upwart
from 81 per month, while nearly three
fourths of the families have income!
little in excess of SIS per month.
Ponce, for which sl,OOO.OO0 has beer
set aside, has a slum population o
1888. Like the people in San Juan
slums, they live for the most part il
congested tumble-down shacks erected
of scrap materials on stills over tida
sWampS, which are laden with disease
| breeding filth, reptiles, garbage ant
sewage.
To build houses cheap enough fo
such Impoverished tenants so as tt
bring rents within their reach is {
problem. indeed, confronting the Gov
ernment. In San Antonio, Tex, tn,
U. S. H. A. has approved a housint
contract for large number of Mexi
can families. The aim Of the loca
authority is to keep the subsidized
rents as low as 50 per room per month
which would mean unit rental rang
ing from $6 to So monthly. Mos
OF the poor Mexican families, 1t wa
said, cannot afford to pay any more
The demand for similar rentals IL
Puerto Rico is perhaps even NOR,
imperative. While no statement car
be made at this time, it probabl,
will be necessary to bring many O
the Puerto Rican rents below thi!
figure.
The housing program undertaken IL
the island has been aimed also t,
distribute the population more ra
tionally, and thus take steps to breal
up the congested areas in the larges
cities.
The main slum clearance project
are well advanced in and around Sal
Juan. as well as in Ponce. Resettle
ment projects also have been com
pleted and started in some of the in
land districts. Concrete houses cost
ing about 5000 are being built IL
rural areas and small villages ar,
| the result.
Thus far, the Reconstruction Ad
ministration has only scratched tn,
surface of the housing problem.