The Government settles at least three protests by sending tanker trucks
14ymedio, Havana, 1 July 2024 / Residents of Central Havana took to the streets Saturday night to protest the lack of water. They managed to block Reina Street, closing off traffic at its intersection with Galiano Street. The demonstration marked the end of a week in which at least two other similar incidents occurred, one in Old Havana and another in Luyanó, which ended when water supplies were replenished.
In an online video, a group of people can be seen using plastic water jugs to create a barricade, blocking a tour bus that routinely uses the street. The Transtour bus was the first vehicle that could not get through, followed by cars that lined up behind it. Only a motorcycle was able to make its way through the barrier.
Police arrived at the scene and listened to the complaints of residents, who explained that they had gone for more than ten days without water. One particularly hard-hit resident reported that a number of water trucks showed up after the streets were closed and “filled everything up for everyone at 4:00 in the morning.”
On M0nday, residents of Old Havana, who had been without water for ten days, blocked the intersection at Egido and Acosta streets with plastic water jugs and stones. Traffic was impeded until a tanker truck, sent by the local government and guarded by police, arrived on the scene.
Sources in Luyanó, which has gone without water for ten days, report that a protest broke out there on Thursday. After residents took to the streets to complain, police and local officials showed up to talk to them and water supplies were delivered.
“Now people know what to do. If they protest because they are hungry, a truck shows up bringing them food. If it’s about water, a tanker truck shows up. That’s it. Life goes on, everyone is happy for a few days and then it’s the same old thing,” complained one user on social media.
Videos of these protests have been circulating on social media, where a multitude of posts complain of similar situations involving water supplies being delivered only every fifteen days, or as long as a month in many instances.
The water shortage in the capital has been aggravated by an electricity shortage. Havana’s water supplier, Aguas de la Habana, reported on July 20 that a tripped circuit at its Cuenca Sur plant caused a disruption in one of the conductors, which forced it to shut down operations in order to diagnose the problem, which in turn led to problems in several parts of the city.
The fuel shortage has also had an impact on water delivery by tanker truck. In March, the government provided data on the country’s water supply, revealing that only 48% of the population receives it on a daily basis at appropriate levels of quality, availability and accessibility. According to its own figures, only 5,400,035 Cubans out of the island’s 11,089,511 residents as of 2022 enjoy this human right.
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