The Escolapia community that manages the Parish of San Judas Tadeo and San Nicolás de Bari, located in the Los Sitios neighborhood of Centro Habana, announced this Saturday the beginning of restoration work on its side door, which was destroyed just three days earlier by the fifth fire of the year at that temple.
Brother Ernesto, Sch.P. reported in a Facebook post that the frame for the new side door is already in place, and the goal is to complete its installation at the beginning of next week.
"Although the wait has been long, we can say that the agreements with the Government of Havana, in the Centro Habana municipality, have begun to be implemented," wrote the religious leader, who added that the community is keeping the area clean to avoid the accumulation of garbage during the work.
Brother Ernesto concluded his message with a request that encapsulates the sentiments of the community: "We pray that everything that has been started comes to a successful conclusion, to the glory of God and for the benefit of our neighbors."
The announcement comes just days after a fire that originated in the makeshift dump next to the temple destroyed the side door last Wednesday, the fifth incident recorded in the parish during 2026.
On that occasion, Brother Ernesto Cuba directly held the authorities responsible: "This is the result of the abandonment by both the Government of Havana, primarily in Centro Habana, as well as the Party and the Community. They have not fulfilled their promises."
The chain of damage began in April, when a first fire charred the main door of the temple and a second incident, weeks later, did not receive a response from the firefighters.
In the early hours of June 19, a third fire destroyed another side door, and in July, the fourth fire of the year was recorded, along with the theft of the solar lamps that the community itself had installed to keep the premises lit and safe.
After each incident, the Escolapios reported the situation to the three levels of government — municipal, provincial, and national — without receiving an effective response for months. The community noticed that the authorities "have made plans, have made promises, but the actions do not follow."
The backdrop of this chain of damages is the collapse of the waste collection system in Havana: in 2026, only 44 out of the 106 trash trucks in the capital were operational due to a lack of diesel and mechanical deterioration, while the city generates between 24,000 and 30,000 cubic meters of garbage daily.
In response to the accumulation of waste, desperate residents turned to burning it, creating fire hotspots that have impacted historical and religious buildings. The Los Sitios neighborhood was identified in early September as one of the hardest hit by neglect, with piles of waste obstructing intersections.
The Parish of San Judas Tadeo and San Nicolás de Bari, located at 830 San Nicolás Street, is one of the oldest historical churches in Centro Habana. Its origins date back to a chapel from the 19th century that was destroyed by a fire in 1802 and rebuilt in 1848, when it was blessed and elevated to a parish in 1854.
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