Courage is a woman and this is demonstrated by the group of residents who gathered at the entrance to the courtyard of the popular buildings in Via Malta to give voice to the discomfort that has exceeded the limit for some time.
They are Francesca, Daniela, Laura (just to name a few) who explain the situation without fear.
And they are also the same women who, against their will, keep an eye on all movements in the courtyards, those of cars and those of “foreigners” who take advantage of the lack of a gate and the fact that those are public housing to leave their waste there.
They are the “sheriffs” of that block that brings together a humanity that is often on the margins but no less worthy of rights and of living in decent homes.
The last problem, in chronological order, is the one that takes away their sleep. In the literal sense of the term.
«On the access road to the courtyards from Via Malta there are always abandoned cars – explains Daniela – Still with the license plates attached, but not used for a lot of months. They have flat tires, a finger of dirt above the bodywork and no one has started them again. The big problem is that they become the home of the most desperate, homeless people who don’t know where to take shelter and break the windows to open the doors and sleep in there. In indescribable conditions.”
And this in itself would be enough to ask for intervention from the authorities. But it didn’t end here.
«For some time now there has been a black boy who has chosen one of the cars down here as his home.
During the day he sleeps thrown on the seat and in the evening, until late at night, he screams, bangs and keeps everyone awake. He even hates to speak in this way, because it is clear that he has psychological distress, but we are not to blame.”
A situation known to the police who intervened but who, in turn, found no solution.
Every now and then the most exasperated residents throw objects at him from the window, on top of the car and often, in turn, shout at him.
«A question of peace but also of safety – underline the “sheriffs” – because in these buildings there are also people who work and who go home late and it’s really scary to walk by them because you don’t know how they might react. And then now there is only him, but many times there are several abandoned cars occupied by other homeless people.”
Francesca, 86 years old and with plenty of determination, says that not many years ago she stopped a thief who was climbing onto her balcony and says: «I’m not afraid of anyone, but I’m at an age that no longer gives me the strength of a time”. But those eyes are still good.
«Some of these homeless people use our cellars (always open) as their personal bathrooms and since there is no light down there, it has become impossible for us to go down to check the meters for fear of stepping on excrement or, worse, finding one of them crouched there.” Cellars which are described as an unfrequentable place due to waste, mice, insects of all kinds, humidity.
Even tenants who do not respect separate waste collection do not escape the eyes of the “guardians” of Via Malta. And in these large buildings that overlook two courtyards half occupied by rows of bins, it is essential to respect the rules on rubbish.
«There are common balconies, which can be accessed from the stairs, to hang out and yet many are occupied by old furniture and rubbish – they say again – And no one bothers to enforce the rules». Not to mention the nocturnal waste dumping at the entrance to the courtyards, to counter which residents have always asked for a gate.
Then the atavistic state of the building.
Stairs with peeling walls, water leaks from the roof, almost non-existent maintenance, light bulbs in the common areas changed by the tenants themselves. That block of Via Malta is made up of old council houses that have never undergone a real renovation and today show all the signs of decay.
«About ten years ago, after yet another piece of glass had fallen from the third floor, the Fire Brigade intervened and said that all the frames of the windows and French windows were unsafe – explains one of the residents – they removed them all of them and have never been replaced since. So in winter it gets colder and in summer more insects come in through those holes.”
Nothing escapes the “sheriffs” of Via Malta who ask for respect. «And enough with this story that they are public housing anyway. Because every time we forget that people live inside.”
(Ago photo report)
