Flowing Concrete

This concrete structure will eventually become a full home. However, it’s been under construction for over 9 years and that’s not a rare occurrence in Ecuador. Many houses are left unfinished, sometimes for weeks, months, or even years. Some projects may not ever be completed. As you walk around the streets and farmland, you’ll notice a lot of similar looking buildings, not only in Ecuador, but in many different parts of Central and Latin America as well.

Why do they take so long to complete? The two main ideas are that, for one, if you don’t finish constructing a building, you won’t need to pay property tax for it. On the other hand, people may not have enough money to continue the construction, so they have no choice but to postpone them. Money comes and goes, and progress is slow and steady.