The family of Stephany Novo Castro, 26, has been without electricity for six days. A fault left the apartment where they live in the neighborhood of Los Sitios, in Central Havana, in the dark. Despite the negotiations and claims, the lack of resources of the Electric Union of Cuba prevents repairing a broken cable that has plunged four people into darkness.
In apartment 28 of the building with number 314 Salud Street, between Gervasio and Cerrada del Paseo, patience ran out a long time ago. On Friday, July 14, the entire building stopped having electricity “due to a down phase,” he told this Thursday to 14ymedio New Castro. The service was only restored the next day at 9:00 pm, but the light bulbs in his apartment, on the second floor, did not come on.
“We reported the problem to the electric company and when the technicians came they told us that the cable that goes from inside the house to the timer had broken,” the woman details. “They assured that they currently have no resources and that this break was not their responsibility, so we had to look for an electrician on our own.”
The 40 meters of cable that the labor force needs would come out, with current inflation, “in three monthly salaries”, of about 4,500 pesos that he earns in his work with the State
The woman quickly did the math: the 40 meters of cable that the labor needs plus the labor force would cost her, with current inflation, “in three monthly salaries”, of about 4,500 pesos that she earns in her work with the State. “We have gone to all possible instances, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the State Council, the Provincial Government, we have nowhere else to go and no one agrees, the last thing they tell us is that they have 60 days to give us an answer.”
In the house, in addition to Novo Castro, her 32-year-old husband lives, together with his mother and grandmother, who are 66 and 86 years old respectively. The oldest woman has resided for more than four decades in the building, built in the 40s of the last century. With 34 apartments, the property has been having problems for months with an electrical phase that “fails all the time,” says the young woman.
“This problem, which also affects the building next door, frequently causes the light to go out at night and we believe that this was what could have affected the wiring,” he explained to this newspaper. For six days the situation has become critical and the family feels abandoned by the official institutions.
“This shows the inefficiency, the ineptitude, the impudence and the lack of respect that there is with the citizens in this country”, considers Novo Castro. “Here neither the basic services, which are run by their monopolies, are already capable of guaranteeing us, nor do they care. They are not concerned about anything or anyone,” he says with disappointment.
The health problems of the elderly women in the family further complicate the situation. The young woman’s husband’s grandmother suffers from “kidney failure, who has to inject a medicine that must be refrigerated, and she is also forced to follow a diet,” she lists. “My mother-in-law underwent surgery for a fractured tibia and she still limps, she is also hypertensive.”
Neighbors have shown solidarity and offer the family cold water to drink and have kept some food in their refrigerators to prevent it from spoiling. One of them installed an electrical extension from his apartment to the family’s so they can connect a fan.
However, of the so-called mass organizations, such as the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution and the Federation of Cuban Women, “none have even bothered to go” through the apartment, warns Novo Castro. As he describes his ordeal, the sun is still shining outside. The night, with the darkness and the heat, is the most difficult to bear.
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