THE HEARTBREAKING CUBA’S HOUSING SITUATION IS A RESULT OF 48 YEARS OF INDIFFERENCE AND CRIMINAL NEGLECT ON THE PART OF THE CASTRO BROTHERS’ GOVERNMENT

      THERE IS A VERY SERIOUS SHORTAGE OF HOUSING IN CUBA, and standing policies make it difficult to rectify the situation. In a UN conference recently held in Havana, the Cuban government recognized that there was a deficit of more than 500,000 homes, and that half of existing homes are either in fair or poor condition. Cuba’s infrastructure and housing suffer from criminal neglect, and as a result, building collapses are fairly common. According to the director of housing, Ivette Perez Vuelta, there are more than one thousand buildings in Havana “in very critical condition,” with around 8,000 dilapidated houses that provide accommodation for 26,000 people, there is no enough resources to avoid their collapse.

      It is estimated that in Old Havana there are two partial or total building collapses every three days. Cuban officials also revealed that last year, due to economic constrains, only 15,000 houses were built, many of which did not add to the total inventory as they replaced houses destroyed by storms. Put in perspective, Cuban officials estimate that the current housing situation calls for 50,000 new homes to be constructed annually during the next ten years at a cost of over US$4 billion. The total number of houses built on the island last year was so small that it does not satisfy the estimated minimum need of Havana alone, which requires approximately 20,000 new homes annually. This Cuban people’s tragedy is the outcome of the continuous deterioration of the country’s housing and infrastructure.