Friday 15 August
2008, San José, Costa Rica
CUBA:
Putting Their Houses in
Order
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA (IPS) - In Cuba,
when talk turns to the
housing problem, the
personal anecdotes that
pour out are as large in
number as the country's
housing deficit,
accumulated over years
during which building
efforts have not kept up
with the need, while the
existing houses and
buildings continue to
crumble.
"It’s a huge problem,
but now at least we are
covered by a programme
that includes
maintenance and
restoration of what we
already have. It's
nearly as complicated
and costly as building
from scratch," María
Leiva, the chairperson
of the residents council
in a 32-apartment block
which is undergoing
repairs, told IPS.
Leiva said that tenants
in this and other
buildings in her block,
in the Havana district
of El Vedado, should
thank their lucky stars
for being included in
this year’s restoration
plans. "Many buildings
are in a poor state of
repair, and the chances
of having them repaired
are low," she sighed.
Some residents, however,
noted that the builders
tend to start their
working day late, work
only from Monday to
Friday, and leave early
because they have no
lunch. "This week they
didn’t come at all; they
said it was because
there were no building
materials," one of the
tenants told IPS.
The authorities say the
resources exist to build
50,000 new housing units
and carry out 250,000
repairs by the end of
the year. Repairs cover
conservation and
restoration work.
But plan is more modest
than the one that was
announced three years
ago.
In mid-2005, the
government set itself
the target of building
100,000 housing units a
year, but that goal was
cut in half because of a
lack of funding.
According to official
statistics, 22,558
housing units and
133,000 repairs had been
completed by June 2008.
The head of the National
Housing Institute,
Víctor Ramírez, himself
admitted in early July
that the 2008 programme
is well below the level
of need. The Institute
estimates the national
housing deficit to be
about 600,000 units, up
from 530,000 in 2003.
Housing availability is
greater in urban areas,
but in terms of the
total deficit which
includes qualitative
aspects, the cities are
worse off. The situation
in Havana, with its 2.2
million residents, is
one illustration.
According to the
statistics, the capital
city’s housing inventory
runs to over half a
million units. But this
figure includes
everything from "modern,
solidly built houses and
apartment blocks for a
number of families,
constructed in the past
two decades, to shacks
improvised out of
inappropriate materials
like tin sheeting and
wood planks," a
professional involved in
the housing sector told
IPS.
There are more than
6,000 tenement buildings
and "cuarterías"
(multi-occupancy rooming
houses) in Havana, as
well as 46 shanty towns
that are home to more
than 18,000 people, in
over 6,200 housing
units. The authorities
admit that living in
these conditions gives
rise to social tension
and a significant number
of violent incidents.
Studies by experts
indicate that the
capital attracts the
vast majority of Cubans
who decide to leave
their home provinces.
According to the latest
census, from 2002,
Havana is the
destination of nearly 41
percent of internal
migrants from the rest
of the country.
Although responsibility
for Havana's housing
deficit is not being
laid at the door of the
thousands of people who
migrate there, the
influx certainly
aggravates the problem.
"If housing is a
difficult matter for
Havana residents,
imagine what it's like
for those who want to
come and stay here," a
young university student
told the newspaper
Juventud Rebelde.
This state newspaper
reported the conditions
in which 2,000 people
live in Las Piedras, a
shanty town in the
eastern Havana
municipality of San
Miguel del Padrón, where
people have built
dirt-floored huts with
materials picked up from
rubbish dumps.
There are no streets,
only paths cut through
the underbrush; no power
lines, but a multitude
of clotheslines instead.
People get water from
pipes running near the "llega
y pon" ("arrive and stay
put," a folk term for
the slums), reported
Juventud Rebelde, adding
that internal migration
increased during the
severe 1990s economic
crisis.
Legislation was
introduced in 1997 to
try to curb, or at least
to regulate, the influx
of migrants from the
provinces, but experts
are hoping that current
development programmes
to improve quality of
life in rural areas will
dissuade many people
from moving to Havana.
The city authorities
hope to complete 5,000
new housing units this
year. They are also
working on ways to
regularise the "illegal"
shanty towns, and to
find solutions for
people who have suffered
the partial or total
loss of homes that were
in a state of disrepair.
"I had to leave my house
because the roof was in
danger of falling in on
me," a woman who is now
staying at a friend's
place until her home is
repaired told IPS.
According to official
statistics, 3,170 new
housing units were
completed in Havana in
1987, and a record of
9,114 in 1989. After
that, because of the
economic crisis, the
construction industry
went into a steep
decline, so that only
723 new homes were built
in 2002.
Building increased after
the crisis, with 1,552
units built in 2003,
2,838 in 2005, 9,443 in
2006 (more even than in
1989), and 6,342 in
2007. But the demand
accumulated by the
housing shortage between
1990 and 2002 far
outstrips supply.
To make matters worse,
the poor state of much
of the housing makes it
particularly vulnerable
to hurricane damage, and
rebuilding diverts
resources from new
housing.
Hurricane Dennis, to
take just one example,
devastated several Cuban
provinces in July 2005,
damaging more than
120,000 homes, 15,000 of
which collapsed
completely and 25,000
partially. The gales
also destroyed roofs on
24,000 houses and
partially damaged those
of another 60,000.
Official reports show
that 2.6 million housing
units have been built in
the last four decades,
which make up 75.4
percent of the country's
housing stock. During
this period the number
of houses in poor
condition diminished,
and overall access to
utilities like
electricity and drinking
water expanded.
However, the authorities
acknowledge that the
state's investment
during these years has
still not solved the
situation, and securing
decent housing remains
one of the main problems
faced by Cubans. |
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