Residents walk through the streets with bottles and buckets to fill them in houses with cisterns that still have a little water
14ymedio, Havana, September 6, 2024 — The government of Havana assured this Friday that it is restoring the water supply service, two days after it was interrupted in the main sources of supply of the capital by “electrical interruptions.” According to a brief report, “17 pumps – out of 19 – are already operating in Cuenca Sur,” one of the three large conductors that suffered breakdowns along with those in Ariguanabo and El Gato.
The effects had an impact on numerous neighborhoods. In El Vedado and Nuevo Vedado, severely affected by the breakdowns of the last few days and by previous ones, the lack of water forced private businesses to close. On Tulipán Street, numerous coffee shops suspended the sale of pizzas and sandwiches. The cancellation disappointed students from several schools and workers from nearby ministries who are regular customers of these premises.
Near Boyeros Avenue, in one of the spots that sells fruit smoothies and sandwiches, this Friday morning a nearby neighbor warned that “not a drop of water has entered the cistern, so they can’t not even wash the glasses.” A nearby candy store also closed its doors waiting for the service to be restored in a neighborhood that, a few years ago, was described in the classifieds of buying and selling homes as a place where “there is always water, never missing.”
A nearby neighbor warned that “not a drop of water has entered the cistern, so they can’t even wash the glasses”
Despite the government’s announcement, in some neighborhoods, such as Luyanó, not even one drop of water has arrived. Residents walk through the streets with bottles and buckets to fill them in with houses with cisterns that still have a little water.
Frustrated, the inhabitants also see that the little water in the area is wasted. “How is it possible that there is no water in the city when a river is overflowing on the road in Luyanó?” a resident asked 14ymedio. This newspaper found that, in fact, there is a jet of water running all over the pavement. “A river is running all over the road. I don’t know where it’s coming from,” she says.
“I haven’t had water for three days,” she adds. “No one has water here, because almost no one has a cistern.” In addition, there are water thieves, who insert a hose into the pipes that run through the streets and sidewalks in front of the houses and suck up the water.
To the shortage must be added “the quality of the water, which is reaching the already contaminated neighborhoods, which we can detect by its color and bad smell. We have to prevent an epidemic from being triggered by this. Imagine the complications that such an event would bring, especially with the lack of medicines,” denounced Marilín López, a resident of Havana, in a Granma report.
The interruption of the supply in recent days has led to despair among the inhabitants in many areas of Havana. Last Tuesday night, in San Miguel del Padrón, the residents took to the streets to protest after more than two weeks without water. In previous days, in Central Havana, Old Havana and Luyanó, the demonstrations managed to restore the service.
“What else are they going to do, if they can’t flush the toilets? So they put a bag in a bucket as a toilet bowl and then close the bag and throw it in the dumpster”
That same Tuesday, the authorities recognized that currently more than 600,000 people suffer “affectations” with the water supply in Cuba. A report published by Granma explained that the number of people who do not have adequate access to water in Cuba has been increasing by almost seven percent.
Although the problem is not new, it has become more acute in the last two weeks. On August 21, 14ymedio reported that the shortage had caused the situation to become scatological in some parts of the capital. In the municipality of Nuevo Vedado, for example, like those who live closer, in Luyanó, they use plastic bags when “nature calls.”
“What else are they going to do, if they can’t flush the toilets? So they put a bag in a bucket as a toilet bowl and then close the bag and throw it in the dumpster,” where it ends up in the open-air landfills, says a resident of that municipality. This creates another problem, because the organic waste piles up in the 20,000 tons of garbage generated every day in the capital, and that remain on the streets for days.
The crisis was also serious in Caibarién, Villa Clara, where it started on August 18. It was not until two weeks later that the Villa Clara Aqueduct and Sewerage Company offered “apologies for the inconvenience caused.” Almost 35,000 were officially affected. The response to the delay in repairs and the “very critical situation” was the “policy” of selling bottled water to the population.
The official spokesperson Henry Omar Pérez reported this Thursday that 4,255 gallons of water had arrived in Caibarién. Each gallon costs 85 pesos. However, he said that distribution will be prioritized for children between zero and 13 years old (5,089). Then come “the bedridden, pregnant and sick”; if there is any water left, the rest of the population will be able to buy it.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
