How to rebuild Cuba’s decaying infrastructure after 50 years of neglect

Posted on Saturday, 03.03.12

How to rebuild Cuba's decaying infrastructure after 50 years of neglect
BY ANDY GOMEZ AND HELENA SOLO-GABRIELE
agomez@miami.edu

When Pope Benedict arrives in Cuba later this month he will not only
find a country in need of spiritual healing but one also in need of
physical repair.

As Nicolas Quintana, the late renown architect and former Florida
International University professor, once noted: "Cuba and its capital,
La Habana, are an architectural urban crown jewel where time has stood
still for 50 years. It is this architecture, the symbol of Cuba's
infrastructure, that has illustrated the creativity, and artistic
talents of its people."

However, during these 50 years, the exquisite architecture of the
country has been allowed to deteriorate — deteriorate to the point where
safety is an issue. In the last several weeks, a number of buildings in
Cuba have come tumbling down, some in the middle of the night while
people slept inside. This is a clear sign of the desperate need for
housing repairs.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union when money stopped flowing in, the
infrastructure of Cuba is in shambles. The shortage of housing in Havana
has created slums all over the city. The housing stock has not kept up
with the population, resulting in over-population. Although
deterioration is widespread in Havana, it is even worse in the
countryside (outside of tourist areas) where there are little to no
investments in new housing.

It is not just the buildings that need repair. The water supply system
loses about half of its drinking water because of leaks. The lack of
adequate sewage collection causes the contamination of waterways, which
in some cases drain in the direction of drinking water supplies. The
entire energy infrastructure, from refineries to power-generating plants
to electrical grids to local wiring, is in an advanced state of decay.
Ground transport is characterized by deteriorating roadways. These are
just a few of the needs for updating the infrastructure of a country
that has not been adequately maintained for the last 50 years.

Rebuilding Cuba's infrastructure will take money and people.

Considerable investments are needed in the housing market, including the
significant repair or new construction of over 400,000 new homes within
the capital and 1.6 million new dwelling units for the entire country.
Major investments are needed to repair and upgrade the deteriorating
water distribution and wastewater collection networks. The existing
power system would benefit from investments to increase generating
capacity. In all, Cuba's infrastructure needs many tens of billions of
dollars — money impossible to raise given the current political and
economic climate within the country.

With respect to people, there is a huge human resource among which the
restoration of Cuba's infrastructure can draw. Within the very talented
groups of professionals are those with an incredible passion towards
Cuba. This passion is seen among people both within the island and
outside. As Father Jose Luis Menendez of Corpus Christi Parish in Miami
states, "Cuba lives on two shores, each shore representing a lung with a
pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein that connects it to one heart, a
heart that yearns for a vibrant, and free Cuba. It is by having this
heart beat as one that Cuba will be able to return back to life."

This can be accomplished by having professionals from both sides of the
Florida Straits come together to develop and implement a plan to rebuild
Cuba, a plan that will upgrade its sanitation, transportation, and
electrical infrastructure while at the same time providing sufficient
and safe housing. Our hope is to transform the deterioration into a plan
for restoration and rebuilding, that takes advantage of the creativity,
ingenuity, and passion of its people.

The implementation of such a plan will require large financial
investments as well as a commitment by the people in and out of Cuba to
work together. In reality, such a commitment will likely require a
deterioration of the political and economic policies currently in place
by Raúl Castro. Only when these governmental and political obstacles
crumble will Cuba be able to mend its broken "heart" and return back to
a prosperous country capable of meeting the basic needs of its people.

Andy S. Gomez is a professor and senior fellow at the University of
Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, and Helena
Solo-Gabriele is associate dean for research at the UM College of
Engineering.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/03/2672189/how-to-rebuild-cubas-decaying.html