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Amidst the situation of "accumulated problems" in the capital, the Cuban regime promised the rehabilitation of crematories and funeral homes in Havana, during a meeting led by Miguel Díaz-Canel with the main authorities of the city, where the collapse of multiple services, including Necrological Services, was addressed.
In the meeting, it was reported on the repair of equipment in the crematoria of Santiago de las Vegas and Guanabacoa, as well as the operation of the one in Berroa, along with repair efforts in 22 of the 24 funeral homes in the capital and cleaning and sanitation work in 16 municipal cemeteries.
The meeting, dedicated to “checking the efforts aimed at addressing the accumulated problems in the city,” was chaired by Díaz-Canel and attended by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee Roberto Morales Ojeda, Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa, ministers, and other Party leaders.
In the section dedicated to Necrological Services, the authorities assured that progress has already been made in the rehabilitation of equipment at the crematories in Santiago de las Vegas and Guanabacoa, while those in Berroa are reported to be operational.
At the same time, repairs are being carried out in 22 of the 24 funeral homes in the city, and efforts are underway to clean and sanitize 16 municipal cemeteries, as part of a plan to try to normalize a service that has come under significant pressure due to accumulated deterioration.
The general diagnosis of the capital also included the state of solid waste collection, a problem that directly impacts public health and the conditions of the cemeteries themselves.
It was reported that in the last week, 93,043 liters of fuel were used to transport 96,500 cubic meters of waste, which, according to the report, has helped reduce the consumption rate from 1.05 to 0.96 liters per cubic meter.
It was also announced the creation of 77 cleaning brigades with around 600 workers, prioritizing the main avenues, plazas, and the most crowded areas of the 15 municipalities.
In the specific case of funeral and cremation services, the authorities presented the rehabilitation of equipment, funeral homes, and cemeteries as a direct response to the accumulation of deficiencies and the need to ensure a sensitive service for the population, in a city that, as they acknowledge, suffers from multiple structural failures in its daily operations.
Crisis of funeral services in Cuba
The crisis in funeral services in Cuba is part of the general decline of public services, manifesting in paralyzed or malfunctioning crematoriums, poorly maintained funeral homes, a lack of resources to operate, and deteriorating cemeteries.
This forces the regime to repeatedly announce "rehabilitations" that fail to address the underlying problem.
The situation with crematories is critical. The lack of operational crematories has caused delays of several days in cremating bodies, accumulation of corpses, and reliance on outdated facilities.
Many funeral homes remain uninvolved despite the system's collapse, and the reported repairs are partial and not necessarily functional.
The scarcity of resources impacts the refrigeration of corpses, the supply of urns, funeral transport, and the hygiene of the facilities.
Recently, it has also come to light the deterioration of cemeteries. Many are in critical conditions of neglect, facing issues of garbage, weeds, and damaged structures.
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