IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 34

The causes
Why? Above all, the greatest influence
is the low salaries workers earn. They
often work 10 hours, in conditions that
are generally far from normal. Since
everything goes back to the economy,
workers’ tools are often inadequate and,
when even when they have them, they
are in short supply. Imagine painting a
three-storey building with a three-inch
wide brush; if not impossible, it is at the
very least inhuman. Another thing that
has tremendous influence on this situation is that most of the basic materials
used for any construction are produced
in Cuba, but they are often in short supply or delivery of them is delayed. As a
result, production schedules cannot be
met. Each year, the investment companies that take care of contracting housing
construction companies have their budgets cut, causing the incompletion or even
start of innumerable repairs and other
construction-type work. The concern is
for the cost of the job not to exceed the
originally planned budget, but what is
never taken into consideration is the
job’s complexity. Yet another influence

on the progressive deterioration of buildings is how repairs are prioritized. At the
municipal level, at least, no one takes
into account the degree of existing deterioration, but rather the proposals made
by municipal delegates, as if they were
engineers or architects. If he or she is
your friend, you’re in luck. It just might
be your house or building that might get
repaired before others. In addition, the
Party and the government exert a great
deal of pressure on construction company directors, so they will meet completion dates, however, only if their final
reports look good. In the end, the rush to
complete projects affects the poor
neighbors and landowners who get stuck
with housing that is really ramshackle.
A historical review
When the Revolution triumphed, Cuban
society inherited the capitalist era’s
buildings: they are still standing. But,
right after the Triumph of the Revolution, construction began being done in a
slipshod manner, and the habits of
maintenance, which are essential for
proper conservation, were lost.

Infanta and San Martín streets

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