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The Bureau of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Pinar del Río analyzed the state of housing construction in the province at its most recent meeting and acknowledged that more than 40,000 families are waiting for a housing solution, some for as long as three decades.
The first secretary of the Party in the province, Yamilé Ramos Cordero, was the one who articulated the magnitude of the failure. "There are families who have been without a home for 30 years, generation after generation," she said during the meeting reported this Friday by the official newspaper Guerrillero.
The data presented in the debate is compelling, as of the 102,288 damages caused by Hurricane Ian, which devastated the province in September 2022, only 64,897 (63.45%) have been resolved by the end of April, showing a mere five percent increase compared to the previous year, according to the authorities.
Furthermore, there are still about 5,000 damages from hydrometeorological events that occurred prior to Ian, which clearly indicates that the housing issue in Pinar del Río significantly predates the cyclone.
The members of the Bureau acknowledged that the poor results are not solely due to objective problems, but also to failures in management, control, organization, and oversight of housing policy.
The local production of materials, presented as an alternative in the face of resource shortages, has also collapsed due to the lack of electricity and diesel that has impacted the extraction of clay and wood, the production of plastics, and the crafting of carpentry items.
The provincial governor, Eumelín González Sánchez, was straightforward in warning that "amid the current crisis, there will not be many more resources than those that can be produced in the territory."
The provincial director of Housing, Andrés Martín Carmona, mentioned that there are new regulations that precede the Housing Law, which is currently in draft form under consultation, and that improve some associated policies.
However, the new housing law strengthens state control over properties and prohibits the sale of subsidized housing during the first 15 years from their allocation, without addressing the structural causes of the deficit.
Ramos also mentioned the alternative of modular homes built from shipping containers, although he acknowledged their limitations.
"The option of houses made from containers is good, but then we need to think about what else we can produce for that container, to make it better and not so costly," he reflected.
The container program, however, has been acknowledged as a failure by the Cuban government itself, and beneficiaries must pay nearly one million pesos per unit, equivalent to more than 10 years of average salary.
"They are cumbersome processes, but we have the obligation to find a way to provide a response to the more than 40,000 families who are currently waiting for housing," concluded the first secretary of the PCC in the province, without offering any specific timelines or commitments.
The housing collapse in Pinar del Río reflects a national crisis of historic proportions. The housing deficit in Cuba and the shortage of materials exceeds 929,000 units, while in 2025 the country completed only 5,493 homes, a 26% drop compared to the previous year.
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