Insalubrity in El Vedado denounced due to poor governmental decisions

A complaint in El Vedado exposes the dramatic situation of a building where vulnerable families live in unsanitary conditions.

In the Facebook group El Vedado de Hoy, user Maya Quiroga reported the critical situation in a building in that neighborhood, where lack of physical planning and poor government decisions are severely affecting the residents.

Maya recounts a conversation with a worker from the Ateneo Bookstore, located on the ground floor of the building: "You can't be here because of the mosquitoes." The source, with stagnant and contaminated water, is at the bottom of the building, at the door of some neighbors.

What is now a residence was previously a local office of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). The government, to solve a housing issue for a family, handed over the space without the advice of experts to create the drainage for the sanitary services.

The result is that the "benefited" family with the precarious roof continues to live in terrible conditions and has a dumping site, a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and a pool of contaminated water at the door of their house, in addition to a visible damp stain on the walls.

"In that place, in inhumane conditions, lives with her husband the woman who invaded the Ateneo bookstore with her three minor children during the vacation. The children play on the boards and wet their hands in the filth," Maya expressed.

In the comments on his post, the user Raúl René Araguez details that the converted premises into a home is in the basement of building 1057, where zone 1 of the CDR used to be located. The Ateneo Bookstore occupies the front of the building on its ground floor.

"It is disappointing to see how everything is deteriorating and nothing is being done to halt and reverse the worrying reality we are living poorly," said Araguez.

Housing crisis in Cuba: Improvisations that worsen the situation

This is just another example of the deep housing crisis that Cuba is experiencing, where the government, in its eagerness to address urgent situations, makes incoherent decisions that worsen the lives of many people.

The lack of adequate housing has led to improvising solutions that are not only unsustainable but also dangerous to the health and well-being of those who occupy them.

Despite the constant announcements of social housing construction, the reality is that year after year the regime fails to meet housing plans. However, it prioritizes the inauguration of luxury hotels, like those planned for 2024, in a context of very low tourist occupancy.

It is evident the disconnect between state policies and the real needs of the population, which continues to wait for a response to the housing crisis in Cuba.