Government builds wooden homes due to shortage of materials in Las Tunas

The Cuban government buildswooden houses in rural areasof the province of Las Tunas, given the shortage of materials and the shortage of housing in the territory.

The localNewspaper 26 reported that "in the absence of the main construction elements, in rural areas they resort to building wooden houses with zinc roofs."

To alleviate the housing crisis in Las Tunas, the authorities are also transforming some disused premises, such as shelters, warehouses and schools, into residences, the newspaper detailed.

"With this program they try to reach about 400 more homes.It is not the solution, but it is an incentive," reported Héctor Rodríguez, provincial director of Housing.

However, the official pointed out that the forestry company is in crisis, so it is not clearly explained how they will manage the wood to build the new homes.

He added that by 2022 the construction of 1,800 houses is planned, of which 518 are carried out by the State, 914 through own efforts and 439 through subsidies. In the last two modalities there is a delay due to the country's energy crisis, which "decreases the production of materials such as cement and steel."

"The delays are also influenced by the fact that for more than two yearsStores do not sell materials to those who build their houses with their own efforts.. There are no veneers, cables, bathroom sets, mosaics... The State was in charge of guaranteeing them according to its possibilities. But the current economic context does not make it possible, and now that program is paralyzed," he acknowledged.

Rodríguez reiterated "the lack of raw materials for the different stages of construction. We do not have wood, since the forestry company is also in crisis."

"The metal window factory is paralyzed for this reason, and the ones we had in storage were sold out. We are experimenting with concrete, both for the frames and for the slats," said the manager.

The housing crisis is not exclusive to Las Tunas, in provinces likeGuantánamo is also facing a complex crisis with more than a thousand total collapses unsolved, the authorities recently acknowledged.

The official newspaperWe will winreported that there are 1,472 total landslides in the territory pending response, "more than 900 floors of land and 500 mothers with three or more children in a vulnerable situation."

Likewise, in Sancti Spíritus, a plan1,324 new homes planned for 2022, they have only managed to build 576, a fact that the local press describes as "significant delays" in fulfilling the plan planned for the current year.

InTrinidad also announced the construction of houses with mud to alleviate the deficit, according to local sources.