Law 65, or the General Housing Law, promotes the possibility of every family having a comfortable home. The reality in Las Tunas shows there is still a long way to go.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Sometimes she feels like the sky is falling on her. She has five children and is expecting her sixth. Her house offers no security for such a large family. When she runs her hand over her belly, she thinks of the increasingly cracked wooden walls, the shattered roof, and the dirt floor. Her baby will come into the world surrounded by dust.

No matter how hard she tries, she does not have the means to escape such a precarious situation. Like her, many other mothers live in the Sosa Oeste district, in a neighborhood called La Tronconera, where dirt floors are a reality.

In the 21st century, it seems implausible that Las Tunas continues to harbor a phenomenon many believe to be extinct or exclusive to rural areas, but no, you just have to open your eyes. More than 60 years ago, poverty forced people to sprinkle ashes on the floor to avoid respiratory complications. This same vestige continues to haunt us today, and how?

According to Iván Cheris Díaz, a provincial government official, the Balcón de Oriente currently has more than 10,659 dirt floors distributed across its eight municipalities, with the highest incidence in "Jesús Menéndez," which has 2,181, and the capital city, which has around 4,781.

The elimination of this problem is part of the Housing Program and is addressed by a plan to complete dwellings based on three concepts: basic cells (belonging to the state plan), self-help, and rehabilitation and conservation (including the eradication of dirt floors and water leaks). But what is holding back the elimination of this phenomenon?

“As a program, this effort has solid support in the territory. Last year, we planned to eliminate 3,735 dirt floors, but only 69 could be completed because we received less than 7% of the raw materials essential for all housing system activities,” explains Cheris Díaz.

"There are two ways in which these works are carried out. One is through the state program; the Provincial Housing Directorate has contracts with construction companies that are required to participate in the process, and they are allocated cement based on the amount that arrives here.

“The second option is through their efforts; people can take out a bank loan and go to the building materials store to find the resources they need to solve their structural flooring problem.”

The administrator says that the starting point for this process is the approval plan in the Municipal Administration Council, where they have a list of the residents affected, name them according to the project, and arrange it with the construction companies.

AND THEN?

At the extraordinary Provincial Government Council meeting held on October 31 last year, the Prime Minister of the Republic, Manuel Marrero Cruz, described as insufficient the efforts to reverse the situation of housing construction and the eradication of dirt floors, commitments that had only been fulfilled to 54 percent at that time.

To achieve progress, several initiatives have been implemented, based on local ingenuity and the instructions of Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés and the prime minister. All urge the use of locally produced construction materials.

Pablo Enrique Paneque Almaguer, director of the Las Tunas Construction Maintenance Company (EMAC in Spanish), warns that it is not a question of will. “In Las Tunas, we have a factory that produces floors and colonial tiles. Both contribute to our main program, which is the construction of housing in all its forms,” he explains.

"Given that the cement factory continues to face a complex situation and there is no response regarding its supply, these two entities are closed, and the workers have been relocated to other activities.

"Based on this, we have eradicated dirt floors with the expertise of builders, who have sought alternatives such as slag from the Stainless-Steel Company (Acinox Las Tunas in Spanish), used in previous years in the construction of sidewalks, curbs, and homes.

“In addition, we have used local clay tiles and acid-resistant tiles, and we have linked up with companies in Granma, which supply us with marble, which we can incorporate into this service to obtain a higher quality finish.”

FLOORS, PRICES, AND DISAPPOINTMENTS

Maidelín Pérez has lived in the Las Margaritas neighborhood of the municipal capital for more than five years. Her house was built through her efforts, and thanks to government assistance, she was able to bring it to the point where it is today. No longer worried about the condition of her residence, she occasionally looks after her grandchildren in the improved, renovated house with new flooring, but... at what cost?

“They installed it quickly, it was ready in three days, and I've had it for about three months. So far, when it's cleaned, it dries quickly, but it doesn't have a nice finish. The most complicated thing here is the price, it costs 53,000 pesos; for me, it's excessively expensive, I've only been able to pay 3,000 pesos with my salary.”

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Maidelín says that many people did not agree when they were presented with this type of floor because of its quality, aesthetics, and high cost. She says that she did not know the price at first; otherwise, she would not have agreed to it. She is aware that with her income, it will take a long time to pay for it.

In this regard, the director of EMAC clarifies that "anti-acid tiles are not designed for floors, but for industrial kitchens where chemicals are spilled. They are impervious to these impurities; therefore, they are highly resistant to wear and tear.

"It is normal, then, that the beneficiaries find it a rustic product, but given the current situation, it has been decided to use it as a possible solution. Given this, we have looked for other solutions, such as marble, which promises a better finish, although its value increases the price."

Carlos Cutiño Cruz, senior specialist in Rehabilitation and Conservation at the Provincial Housing Directorate, says that "one of the biggest problems we face is the cost of these floors; they are alternative techniques, but they are expensive.

“The owner of the home is the one who pays, and we must remember that this is a person without resources, otherwise they would have eradicated it by other means. We went to visit some residents, and they said they could not afford that amount.”

ON THE TIGHTROPE

Onis López Caballero, general director of Acinox Las Tunas, tells 26 that in 2023, they sold 800 bags, 33 tons of slag cement to the Construction Maintenance Company, based on an instruction from the Provincial Government.
“We also deliver it regularly to Community Services to be used in the cemetery, replacing gray cement,” he points out.

"At that time, the steel mill was in operation in the industry, generating levels of white slag; therefore, we were able to supply it and support the eradication of dirt floors.

"White slag, although rich in oxide, undergoes a treatment process at the plant itself, and when used with the correct water, minimizes health risks, except when inhaled as dust.

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"We tested its hardness in the laboratories of the Ministry of Construction, and its use is not exclusive to Cuba; it is used internationally. We tested it at Acinox and have a technical standard that indicates the appropriate dosage.

“It has been used by our workers who have removed their dirt floors; it has also been used in thick plaster, on sidewalks, retaining walls... The problem is that the company is at a standstill due to the energy situation and a significant breakdown; we hope to recover and resume activity in the second half of the year.”

IN SEARCH OF QUICK SOLUTIONS

José Luis Báez Cardet, a rehabilitation and conservation specialist with the Municipal Housing Department in Las Tunas, confirms that in the midst of the current economic crisis, efforts have been cut short.

“By 2024, we had planned to eradicate 621 floors, but we only managed to complete 14 due to the amount of resources we were given. Those that have been resolved have been through alternative techniques, such as clay slabs. In 2025, we want to eliminate 500, and he pointed out an essential detail: this will only be carried out in legalized housing.”

Also immersed in this complex scenario, engineer José Adrián Barroso Fernández, senior territorial policy specialist at the Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture, explains that during the last calendar year, this sector only eliminated six dirt floors, and for the current year, it has a plan to eliminate 598 in different municipalities, focusing on Manatí, Majibacoa, and Las Tunas.

“In this case, the proposal we are considering is to lay clay tiles manufactured in the same territory with lime-based mortars and other binders that do not contain cement.”

These are all voices and realities that, in the face of the tangible shortage of a universal building material, create several urgent needs and mandates. For dirt floors to cease to be part of everyday life in thousands of homes in Las Tunas requires multisectoral strategies and much more collective effort and tenacity on the part of the authorities.

This binding mixture, capable of “healing” any wound, must not lack innovation and in-depth, conscious, and coordinated study of all the local variants that enable practical solutions that are not divorced from aesthetics or workers' pockets. The economic crisis will continue to dismantle the “bricks,” but not persisting would be to disrespect one of the many hopes of January 1959.