Seven months have passed since, on the morning of May 6, an explosion that shook Havana destroyed the Saratoga Hotel, taking the lives of 47 people, most of them workers from the establishment who were finalizing the preparations for the reopening –scheduled for May 10 – and neighbors from the surrounding area, but also people who simply passed by.
The damage, without being so serious, was not minor for those who lost their homes, especially the residents of Prado 609, or vehicles parked in the surrounding streets, who continue to wait for what seems like an eternity.
“Saratoga has no plans for what to do there yet. They are not going to demolish it completely, just what is necessary and stabilize the structure. The planned time is 8 or 10 months,” he told 14ymedio one of the neighbors in the area.
“The Saratoga has no plans of what to do there yet. They are not going to demolish it completely, just what is necessary and stabilize the structure. The planned time is 8 or 10 months”
The resident lost a car that he had parked next to the Saratoga and, although he lives outside of Havana from time to time, he has just returned to catch up on the situation. A lawyer confirmed that he will not receive any compensation until it is determined who is responsible, something that does not seem to urge the authorities. “They won’t say anything in this story. The executioner and the culprit are the same person,” he laments.
The neighbor, who does not want to reveal his identity, affirms that those affected have no news that there was third-party insurance that guarantees them any compensation, although he does point out that the hotel was covered by an insurer whose name he does not know and will be the one who will face the repair .
“The demolition, stabilization and construction of the concrete structure of the buildings will be carried out by Almest (a real estate company of the Armed Forces) and UCM (Unión de Construcciones Militares), together with a French company,” he explained to this newspaper. Although it is not known which company it is, the construction company Bouygues has been a partner of the state real estate company in the construction of 22 luxury hotels on the island, including the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, in front of the Central Park, in Old Havana.
The neighbors, according to this source 14ymedio, they hope that Almest and UCM are the ones who “start and finish the building, because they have the best materials, technology and technical personnel.” According to his testimony, the hotel is constructively linked to Prado 609 –the neighboring property, which suffered extensive damage– and the Baptist church, and the three must work together, although the government plan is to restore the Saratoga and only demolish the two others.
“Díaz-Canel said from the beginning that these buildings were going to suffer the same fate, although without completely demolishing them all. They say that later they are going to redo them, not the same as they were before in terms of design, but that they will respect the areas, the square meters of each apartment,” he adds.
For now, the architectural project for the new buildings will be carried out by the state-owned Diseño Ciudad Habana (DCH) with money contributed by the Government through the Ministry of Planning and Housing. “We only know about this phase. They have not yet said what will happen next, although it is said that perhaps the completion of Prado 609 and the church is in the hands of the Ministry of Construction.”
“We only know about this phase. They have not yet said what will happen next, although it is said that perhaps the completion of Prado 609 and the church is in the hands of the Ministry of Construction”
As for the neighbors, the source assures that it is most likely that they will continue to stay in Villa Panamericana. “I estimate four or five years on this, hopefully,” he admits.
Barbara Tenreyro has been one of the neighbors who has most remembered the events on her social networks on each anniversary. On November 6, when she was half a year old since the explosion, she remembered once again with pain what she lost that day.
“Six months ago and it seems like yesterday when, amidst the pain of what was lost, we began the battle to have our houses built, to be heard, to give priority to our problem in the midst of so much chaos, because in Due to the delay, many of our neighbors will no longer be able to enjoy their remodeled and new house, and will remain as if they had died that same day that the fatal incident broke out. recover our lives, we remain eternally grateful to those people who, with work and sacrifice, managed to send us the donations and to all those people who during all this time have empathized with our sorrow,” he wrote.
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