Portals in critical condition and homes in danger of collapsing in Guantánamo

The city of Guantánamo presents a complex scenario in its buildings, with dozens of portals in critical condition and homes in danger of collapsing that constitute a danger to passersby.

According to journalists from the local official newspaperWe will win, on countless main streets the panorama is similar: portal parapets, columns, beams and complete structures about to collapse in areas traveled by hundreds of people, including children.

The desperate property owners have gone to several instances to express their complaint and ask for help, but in each one they have been told that the situation must be faced "with their own resources", in a context of shortage of construction materials and prices. excessive

Bertha Rosa Mustelier, owner of a house in the center of the city in danger of collapsing, told the media that she requested help from Popular Power and Housing but they have answered that she must assume her expenses, with her pension of 1,552 pesos.

The deplorable state of her home made her prop up one of the columns of the portal, held only with a stick, an obvious risk for those who walk there.

Zulma Ojeda Suárez, director of the city's Development Group Office, acknowledged to the press that there is an extensive list of portals falling down due to the poor construction state of the housing, where in many cases they have had to vacate the upper floor.

“In many cases, it is advisable to knock down, with great care and skill, to avoid misfortune for the residents and passers-by. But it is up to us, in those cases, and we have done so, to alert each responsible institution and the Government, and suggest solutions,” he told them.

For his part, a Municipal Administration Council (CAM) official alleged that there was a lack of resources and could not even provide exact data on the homes in danger of collapsing.

“The CAM does not have a budget assigned to attend to these homes. Most of the houses in the historic center are not in critical condition. But whether or not they are in an important historical or cultural area, they are all governed by the housing policy, according to which it is the responsibility of people to undertake any repair or conservation work on their home,” he responded.

Nor did the directors of Territorial and Urban Planning and Heritage have updated information on the state of the homes or which of them represent a danger to people's lives.

According to the CAM official, homeowners should ask the community architect's office to rule on such dangers.

However, in this last entity they argued that it is not their responsibility to declare a construction in danger of collapse.

“We, at the request of the owner or investor of a building that requires a diagnosis, offer the service and issue a technical opinion on the structural conditions of the property,” said an architect.

Distinguishing themselves from responsibilities, each of the instances agreed that the responsibility falls on the owner of the house, in charge of obtaining materials, requesting a technical opinion and taking care of the lives of passers-by by declaring on a sign "Be careful, danger of collapse."

Heritage homes and other homes, at this rate, will cease to exist and many lives may end when they pass through a portal on which a piece of roof falls.

The oldest house in the city, on Bernabé Varona street, between Los Maceo and Moncada, has received two repairs that are "not at all lasting" and the roof of the portal is evident. danger of collapse.

In Guantánamo, thecritical housing situation, bureaucracy and irregularities, has led dozens of families to settle on what was the Ecological Center for Urban Waste Processing (CEPRU), located in the community of Isleta, south of the city of Guaso.

The CEPRU, which remained active between 2000 and 2012, closed and the urban solid waste was spread in thin layers and covered with earth - what is known as a sanitary landfill technique - and family homes were settled on that place. .