HOLGUÍN, Cuba. – “Shame has been lost: people urinate in public; She is not interested in being seen and she does not care if there are police officers watching her,” she tells CubaNet Holguin native Valentín Rodríguez.
Whether in central parks, corridors or corners of crowded streets, the stench and lack of hygiene tarnish the image of this city in eastern Cuba. The situation is so serious that signs warning “Do not urinate” have multiplied.
For Luis Pablo Hernández, the situation is not new, but it gets worse every day. The man from Holguín alludes to the case of the El Mestre youth recreation center, a facility that, due to the strong stench of urine in its surroundings, many compare to public bathrooms. Something similar happens, says Hernández, in the even more central Plaza de la Marqueta, where a dozen bars serve, and where, despite the availability of toilets, the stench of urine is felt. “All the bars there have bathrooms, however people urinate in the street because they don’t go to the bathroom,” says the interviewee.
According to Roberto Isaías, the fear of assaults in public bathrooms is another reason for not using them, an opinion shared by Marcos Gutiérrez. “People don’t urinate in public bathrooms because they are afraid of going in and being assaulted; That has happened several times,” says Gutiérrez.
For retirees, like Félix Santamaría, this reality has specific challenges, related to economic problems and the needs of age. “Old people like me can’t hold back the urge to urinate. If you are outside your house and you feel like it, then you have nowhere to urinate because there are not enough public bathrooms and the few that there are cost 10 pesos, which we retirees cannot afford with our pension.”
The Ministry of Finance and Prices, based on Resolution 512 of 2013, which authorizes the leasing of the public bathrooms of the Communal Company to self-employed workers, established a peso as the maximum price for toilet, urinal and sink services; However, the current price of these services in the city of Holguín is 10 pesos.
For their part, the self-employed mention the high cost of living as one of the reasons for the increase in the price of public bathrooms. “At first he charged three pesos for the basic service and offered soap and talcum powder. But the prices of grooming products went up and I eliminated them. Food prices also went up and I am the breadwinner in my house, so now I charge 10 pesos to go to the bathroom,” says Tony, a self-employed person who chose to identify himself only by his first name.
The lack of public bathrooms is another cause of the problem. The customers of the kiosks located in the parking lot of the Calixto García stadium, known as the Candonga, do not have sanitary services to go to and “urinate at any time on the tree trunks or on the walls of the stadium itself,” says Federico. Lorenzo.
Not even the central parks that identify Holguin They are saved from this unfortunate situation. “During the day, when everyone sees them,” says Cristóbal Martínez, “there are men urinating in Julio Grave Park in Peralta without any shame.”
In the past, the city of Holguín stood out for its cleanliness. Now, Holguín residents, like Felipe Salcedo, regret the change: “Because of its cleanliness, Holguín was previously compared to Cienfuegos, and now, because of how dirty it is, we have to compare it to Havana. “Those who urinate in the middle of the street, before doing so, look here and look there, and when they don’t see anyone, they urinate in the center of the city and nothing happens.”
Failure to comply with the law and the lack of sanctions contribute to the increase in these reprehensible practices. “There is a law that penalizes if you are caught urinating, but it doesn’t work,” says Francisco Rodríguez.
Oscar Peñalver, for his part, does not believe that the consumption of alcoholic beverages is the cause of the problem. “The sale of beer in the city center is not a justification for people urinating on every corner; Before, they also sold beer and there was not the stench of urine that is felt in the city today.”
