Funny Old Day!

It\’s been a funny sort of a day, Marcela left home at 7.30am for a meeting of the Veeduría (Environmental Protection) in Bello, and shortly after I left home to go food shopping in Copacabana, and then onto Bello to buy materials to prepare for the Swimming pool project.

I was going to buy clear plastic sheeting to cover the pool, but it was a 20% more expensive than black, so black it is!

I arrived back home about midday, and then received a call from Marcela before she went to work, she has been dragged out of her meeting by a call from the Planning Dept in Copacabana, regarding the application by \’Enimigo\’ to legalise the Barbers and apartment above. It appears that he is trying to get our agreement to resolve issues before he is tagged by the Inspection of Urban Affairs, which would save him paying the fines…It isn\’t going to happen, Marcela has spoken with our other neighbour, and she has said that she will never agree to let things slide, we have been campaigning for over two years to get this resolved.

Unless, he blocks all the windows, reduces the illegal third floor to a minimum of a patio only, then there will be no agreement.

It turns out that he has even produced a certificate to say that the sewerage from the building is piped into a neighbours tank…I don\’t think so, in fact I am sure not, because the previous owner didn\’t even know where it went. This has been put to the Planning dept. because without a septic tank, the building can\’t be habitable, and it has no land to put one on.

Marcela is going to see the Planning Dept, to see what is going on, we have a feeling that \’Enimigo\’ is trying to do just as we feared, grease someone\’s palm! So I have told Marcela, that we will put some other spending plans on hold, and use the cash for legal action, but using lawyers and Judges outside the area, so it won\’t be in the \’Old Boys\’ network. If it is found that the law is not being complied with, then we will take those involved to Court, including the Planning Dept.