Tidak Punya Rumah, Tinggal di Selokan Selama 22 Tahun
No Home, Live in a Sewer for the Past 22 Years
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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SEORANG pria tampak keluar dari tempat tidurnya di selokan, yang dijadikan rumah bersama istri dan anjing peliharaan selama 22 tahun terakhir.
Michael Restrepo, 62 dan istrinya, Maria Garcia tinggal di gubuk bawah tanah di Medellin selama dua dekade terakhir.
Hidup mereka adalah kisah gamblang tentang kemiskinan masih marak terjadi di kota kedua terbesar di Kolombia.
Mantan pecandu narkoba, Michael membuat rumah sederhana, dilengkapi dapur, kipas angin, televisi, kursi, tempat tidur dan listrik.
Anjing mereka juga tidur di bawah tanah, dan mereka harus mengangkatnya ke luar got setiap hari, seperti dikutip The Sun.
Mereka hidup di bawah ancaman pemerintah yang melarang selokan untuk dijadikan hunian.
Ruangan lembab setinggi tiga meter, lebar dua meter dan tinggi 1,4 meter. Saat hujan, selokan ditutupi papan dan setelah hujan reda digunakan sebagai langit-langit.
Kota Medellin dulu dikenal sebagai kota paling keras di dunia, sebagai akibat ´perang kota´ dari kartel narkoba yang kejam pada era 70-an dan 80-an.
Pemerintah Kolombia bekerja keras mengubah wajah kota, mengatasi kejahatan dan mengundang investor untuk meningkatkan industri pariwisata.
A MAN looks up from his sewer bed, the home he´s shared with his wife and dog for the past 22 years
Michael Restrepo, 62, and his wife Maria Garcia have lived in the underground hovel in Medellin, Colombia for the past two decades.
Their life is a stark reminder of the poverty still rife in the second largest city in Colombia.
Former drug addict Michael has made the space as homely as possible, kitting it out with a kitchen, fan, TV, chair, a bed and electricity.
They dog sleeps underground too, and they have to lift him out to ground level each day.
They live with the constant threat the government will turf them out of the city owned abandoned sewer.
The damp space is just three meters wide by two meters deep and 1.4meters high.
When it rains, the opening is covered with planks, and on dry days, used as a skylight.
Medellin was once known as the most violent city in the world, as a result of an urban war started by ruthless drugs cartels in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Colombian government are working hard to turn around the city´s fortunes, tackling crime and investing in urban development to boost their tourist industry.
