{"id":8225,"date":"2026-05-04T13:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7634595\/havana-boasts-its-first-two-modular-homes-as-cubas-capital-disintegrates\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:18:24","slug":"havana-boasts-its-first-two-modular-homes-as-cubas-capital-disintegrates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8225\/havana-boasts-its-first-two-modular-homes-as-cubas-capital-disintegrates\/","title":{"rendered":"Havana boasts its first two modular homes as Cuba’s capital disintegrates"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAVANA (AP) \u2014 Cuba<\/a> has unveiled Havana\u2019s first two modular homes using repurposed shipping containers, a critical step in a capital where once-majestic residences are collapsing.<\/p>\n

Government officials including President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel gathered this weekend in front of the homes awarded to two single mothers: one had spent more than a dozen years living in a shelter and the other dwelled in a single room with two teenage children, according to state media.<\/p>\n

The media reported that crews built the homes in one month using surplus material from tourism investment projects, technologies developed by Cuba\u2019s Revolutionary Armed Forces and containers previously used to import parts from China for solar panel farms.<\/p>\n

Officials said Saturday that Cuba has a housing deficit of more than 800,000 homes. The most pressing need is in Havana.<\/p>\n

Unable to escape a collapsing home<\/p>\n

Yurieska Artunet Mart\u00ed, a 29-year-old beautician who lives in the historic part of Havana, was forced to move out of her last apartment because it disintegrated. She still lives on the same floor and in the same building, but the back part of it, which is standing \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody here in Havana lives in fear,\u201d she said as she looked up at her rotting ceiling and disintegrating walls. They shelter Artunet Mart\u00ed, who is four-months pregnant, and her three children, ages 7 months, 1 and 5. <\/p>\n

Plaster from the wall falls on their bed while they sleep, she said.<\/p>\n

Artunet Mart\u00ed can\u2019t afford to live elsewhere. Two months ago, she was forced to close the beauty business she ran out of her home, where clients were forced to climb eroded steps, side-step splintered wood and avoid a gaping hole where an elevator once operated.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople stopped coming because of the building\u2019s condition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The widely admired homes in Old Havana<\/a> that range in style from Spanish Colonial to Cuban Baroque are known to collapse, especially after heavy rains, sometimes killing their occupants.<\/p>\n

Government data from 2020 found that the island of nearly 10 million people had 3.9 million homes, with nearly 40% in only fair or poor condition. Lack of maintenance, a deep economic crisis<\/a> and adverse weather<\/a> are to blame.<\/p>\n

No one lives in the upper floors of Artunet Mart\u00ed’s building anymore; they were all evacuated and placed in shelters for safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d she said. \u201cWe know we\u2019re in danger, but we have to accept reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear grips Havana residents<\/p>\n

In another area of historic Havana, 60-year-old Carlos Sabl\u00f3n recalled how a portion of his building\u2019s third floor collapsed at night. Sabl\u00f3n was watching TV at that moment but knew what had happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite damaged by time,\u201d he said of the building\u2019s infrastructure as he looked out his second-story window and onto a tiny, crumbling courtyard.<\/p>\n

No one was on the third floor when the collapse occurred, but firefighters evacuated everyone else. Unable to afford to live elsewhere, Sabl\u00f3n, an engineer, returned to his apartment. It wasn\u2019t damaged, so he hooked up power and water for himself and a handful of other residents who stayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always going to be afraid,\u201d he said as he lamented that no one ensures the safety of homes in Havana.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the one I fear the most,\u201d Sabl\u00f3n said of his apartment building, which he believes will keep collapsing. \u201cI hope it\u2019s not when someone is walking by.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several blocks from Sabl\u00f3n lives 63-year-old Magalys Caro. She is confined to a single room, a makeshift kitchen and a bathroom in the front part of her building. It used to house a company that let her move in when her home next door disintegrated during a hurricane.<\/p>\n

But the building where she lives now poses a threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe back there has collapsed,\u201d Caro said as she pointed to a spacious, open-air area behind her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been living here in these poor conditions for about 10 years,\u201d Caro said. \u201cNothing gets resolved. The Housing Department does nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A push for more modular homes<\/p>\n

At Saturday\u2019s event to unveil Havana\u2019s first two modular homes, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz acknowledged that the program of converting shipping containers into homes could be sped up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not moving at the desired pace,\u201d he said, adding that the work is underway.<\/p>\n

Delilah D\u00edaz Fern\u00e1ndez, housing director general at Cuba\u2019s Ministry of Construction, said that more than 2,000 containers destined to become homes have been approved, and that some 700 are currently being converted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program \u2026 holds immense potential and is here to stay,\u201d she said, adding that as new containers arrive, they will be considered for eventual housing.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz Fern\u00e1ndez said the program\u2019s main beneficiaries will include people who lost their homes to extreme weather events or were destroyed by structural collapses.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s Latin America coverage at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAVANA (AP) \u2014 Cuba has unveiled Havana\u2019s first two modular homes using repurposed shipping containers, a critical step in a capital where once-majestic residences are collapsing. Government officials including President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel gathered this weekend in front of the homes awarded to two single mothers: one had spent more than a dozen years living in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":8226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"guid":"e3cddff0-6917-4a34-b536-6622d450e815","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"D\u00e1nica Coto","published":"2026-05-04 13:18:24","updated":"2026-05-04 13:18:24","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1737,1738],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-8225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8225\/havana-boasts-its-first-two-modular-homes-as-cubas-capital-disintegrates\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Havana boasts its first two modular homes as Cuba’s capital disintegrates","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8225\/havana-boasts-its-first-two-modular-homes-as-cubas-capital-disintegrates\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8225\/havana-boasts-its-first-two-modular-homes-as-cubas-capital-disintegrates\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-8cb49e03bec63f52b0f8923ca1cd8aface771359b9b04d054646bf96650e2b43.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-8cb49e03bec63f52b0f8923ca1cd8aface771359b9b04d054646bf96650e2b43.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNhome","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-05-04T20:18:24Z","datePublished":"2026-05-04T20:18:24Z","dateModified":"2026-05-04T20:18:24Z"},"rendered":"