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Official media reported this Saturday that two homes built from reused shipping containers were delivered in the city of Holguín. Authorities are promoting this initiative as an alternative to provide housing for families affected by meteorological events.
According to the article "Holguín advances in the transformation of containers into homes," published by the official newspaper ¡Ahora!, these initial deliveries mark the beginning of a program aimed at constructing several dozen similar houses in different areas of the province throughout the year.
The project includes a settlement in the Piedra Blanca neighborhood, where 31 homes are expected to be built using this approach.
According to Yuriel Zaldívar Torres, the provincial director of Housing, each unit is created from a container that is approximately 11 meters long and 2 meters wide.
Inside, there are two bedrooms with closets and a common area that consists of a living room, dining room, and kitchen, the latter equipped with a concrete countertop covered with tiles.
The metal modules are covered with a zinc roof supported by metal structures, and their interiors are lined with wooden sheets or other materials to reduce the impact of high temperatures.
In addition, an independent bathroom is built using blocks and cement, featuring sanitary fixtures and a shower, to which an outdoor laundry area and a small front porch are added.
The works are being carried out by teams from the Industrial Works Construction Company No. 9 of the province.
The process also involves other entities, including the company 60 Aniversario de la Revolución de Octubre, which is part of the Mechanical Industry and is responsible for creating the openings for doors and shutters in the containers.
The plan also includes the connection to the electrical and water supply networks, as well as the layout of streets and urbanization tasks within the new settlement.
The conversion of shipping containers into housing has spread to other provinces in response to the shortage of building materials and the damage caused by weather events.
In Guantánamo, for example, 15 homes of this type were inaugurated in February in the 24 de febrero settlement, in the municipality of San Antonio del Sur, designed for families who lost their homes due to hurricanes Oscar in 2024 and Melissa in 2025.
Similar projects are also being promoted in Villa Clara and Havana, where authorities have announced the transformation of thousands of containers into housing modules as part of a state strategy to address the housing shortage.
However, this alternative arises in the midst of a housing deficit exceeding 800,000 homes in the country, a situation exacerbated by the lack of cement, fuel, and electricity that has stalled multiple construction projects.
Official sources themselves acknowledge that these modules require additional coatings to mitigate heat, reflecting the challenges of adapting industrial containers to the island's climatic conditions.
Additionally, in several of these programs, beneficiaries will be required to make bank payments for the assigned housing, which adds new financial burdens in a context marked by scarcity and the widespread deterioration of the housing stock.
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