Havana/The water supply situation in Cuba is currently critical and could get worse. The authorities recognized on Monday that more than 3,100,000 inhabitants are affected, in what is being the driest period registered in the country since 1901.
Although this month is still a rainy season – the term on October 31 – the dams and reservoirs are at very low levels, with 1,790 million cubic meters below the average.
Antonio Rodríguez, president of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), declared For the star news: “We have a deficit of several months. Although it rains in September and October, we will not replace the deficits we have.” The authorities identify the weather drought as the first cause, but more other reasons that also recognize: the “electrical contingency”, an aging infrastructure, as well as the breaks in the pumping machines, aggravated by “the electrical discharges of the summer” weigh.
99% of the country is affected, but the three provinces with the worst situation are Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguín. Rodríguez adds to the aforementioned problems one that is not less: the lack of cement. “Not in all the places where we excavated and do works, then we can cover. It is one of the criticisms that make us. We do not cover how we have to cover,” said the official as a self -criticism.
Holguineros have been forced to perform works to extract water from deeper levels
For blackouts, called “energy contingency”, the government does not seem to have an immediate and lasting solution. To alleviate the problems with water pumping, it resorts to the photovoltaic parks. Yunior González Núñez, first vice president of water and sanitation in the INRH, declared that “they are safe and clean systems”, because they are isolated from the energy that is generated with fossil fuels. “They are always available,” he said without too much security, although he then added, referring to the incompatibility of this energy with the clouds or with the night: “Whenever there is a sun scratch.”
Santiago de Cuba is, without a doubt, the one that presents a more unfortunate panorama, with 454,918 people affected, 60.4% of the population. The Yuliana Omar Rodríguez engineer said on television that 350 liters per second are pumped in the work of Gota. “As soon as the engine is prepared, we ride and reach the 450 liters per second.” In the case of Mogote, he declared that they are repairing four Moa engines to mount them and be able to transfer to the city of Santiago.
From Holguin the alarm sounds with similar urgency. The Cacoyugüín dam is less than 40% of its capacity. A year ago the authorities They published With euphoria images of the reservoir relief, and even so the villagers complained that they did not pump “for four months.” The situation has aggravated today, and the Holguineros have been forced to carry out works to extract water from deeper levels.
Even in worse state is the Gibara dam, with about 19% of its capacity. It has been several months since the water does not reach works, and they have had to install a floating pumping station. The drought advances at the same time that even this takes has to be constantly moved into the reservoir.
In a table by provinces, quickly shown in the images of the news on Monday, it was read that in the province of Holguín there are 316,222 people affected by the lack of water, 44.30% of the population.
The population wonders how to survive while the government continues to improvise and place patches to a dysfunctional model
Guantanamo is another of the most affected territories, with 38.5% of its inhabitants without water. Although the authorities have indicated as a positive aspect “the excellent level of information” provided to the citizens, the easternmost of the provinces does not seem to stand out in that aspect. The monitoring of the crisis in Guantanamo is much less regular and precise than in other areas of the country.
With the water supply in Cuba, something very similar to what happens with the electricity generation happens: decades without investments, accumulation of breaks and an obsolete infrastructure with more than 40 years of exploitation. Now the authorities talk about “efforts abroad” to import supplies and pieces for workshops specialized in the repair of pumping equipment. They are also proposed to acquire components necessary for the manufacture of “electric blackboards demanded by the sources of supply.”
Outside the INRH offices and news screens, reality is less technical and more rough. The population wonders how to survive while the government continues to improvise and placing patches to a dysfunctional model. In the street, people load cubes and stairs tanks, make eternal tails in front of the pipes, improvises hoses from wells or streams, and is organized to bathe every two or three days. In the highest neighborhoods, the tanks remain empty for weeks and abusive prices are paid for a little water in the informal market. The neighbors say that the “Rayito de Sol” of which the INRH speaks does not reach them to fill a jug.
