In 2019, 43,700 houses were completed in Cuba, as part of a program that plans to resolve the housing problem in 10 years, authorities from that sector reported to the Industry, Construction and Energy Commission of the National Assembly this Wednesday.
That figure represents an “over-compliance” for the year of 10,801 homes, as the construction or rehabilitation plan contemplated only 32,899, according to Santiago Lajes, president of the commission, the daily Granma reported this Wednesday.
#Cuba: En la Comisión de Industria, Construcciones y Energía los diputados analizan los resultados del control y fiscalización realizado al programa de la #vivienda:
Se visitaron en 12 provincias del país con un alcance a 32 municipios 👇 pic.twitter.com/mfhbr7KlOm— Asamblea Nacional Cuba (@AsambleaCuba) December 18, 2019
At the beginning of 2019, Cuba had a deficit of 929,695 houses, of which it plans to build more than half a million from scratch and rehabilitate some 400,000.
The “main accumulated social problem facing Cuba today” is that of housing, which is why this program is one of those prioritized by the island’s authorities, said officials of the Ministries of Industry and Construction, cited by Granma.
The compliance of the granting of subsidies is at 93%, and 11,525 “basic housing units”―a primary type of house―are being finished, almost 1,000 less than planned, Lajes added.
Although the housing rehabilitation plan is fulfilled, not all actions are aimed at resolving the population’s approaches, he said.
Ministro: Déficit de viviendas en Cuba se superaría «en diez años»
The official criticized the slowness in the delivery of the certificate of “habitable” to houses completed since 2018 and said that the actions of the program of rehabilitation and conservation of real estate is not being carried out in depth, despite this being the program that generates the most complaints.
For his part, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that “we need to ensure quality, and be enemies of botched jobs. We also have to raise awareness that the solution to the housing problem cannot fall entirely on the State.”
The president called for collective work to assume this task. “Everyone must take part in the repairs, from the same communities, among the neighbors themselves,” he said before the parliamentary commission.
