A breakdown in one of the two conductors that transfer water from the dams of the northwest system to the Quintero Water Treatment Plant, in Santiago de Cuba, it left nearly 300,000 inhabitants without service of the city, affected by distribution cycles of between 20 and 50 days.
The breakage occurred around 1:00AM this Thursday. It was the second time in less than 72 hours that the driver broke down in the same place: between the 1,000 millimeter pipe and the register that controls the pressures in the area adjacent to the marginal neighborhood of Calle 13 and the Hoyo del Micro 7, in the José Martí District.
The breaks have caused the spillage of thousands of cubic meters of water That They pour into the sewer, flood the area and make the health panorama more complex. from that peripheral area and unhealthy neighborhoods, where clumps and rot fill the homes with infections and mosquitoes.
The first breakdown occurred at 8:00 PM last Monday, and both the maintenance brigades of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) and Aguas Santiago concluded the repair work “in record time”, after patching the two meters of damaged pipe.
To do this, they cut down several trees and evicted the families who lived in a dozen shacks and adjoining sheds, claiming that, because they were located in the surroundings of the damage, they would not have been able to do the work with the required quality.
Shouts of “sons of bitches” and “pinga pal president” were heard early this Thursday in the area, where The population is tired of living without drinking water and collect what you use to bathe in basins and other vessels to clean and flush toilets.
Both breaks coincided with prolonged blackouts, a situation that made it more difficult the efforts of the neighbors to unclog the drains and prevent the sewage and all the mud from entering their homes.
Those same neighbors, on Monday, in the middle of the darkness and with the torrent almost up to their waists, took the risk to remove the garbage and wooden logs that were blocking the flow. This Thursday they refused to enter the mud as a sign of rejection of the “patches and bungles” of the Aqueduct Company.
Those who returned home at that time did so with their shoes in their hands, their pants rolled up, and expressing all kinds of insults against the Government.
The fault is not new. It dates back to the beginning of the year and has not been resolved, it has only received patches. According to a worker from the Aqueduct Company who lives in the area, it is estimated that because of him cAbout one and a half million cubic meters of water have not reached the water treatment plantnor have they been distributed on the networks of a city, which faces an unprecedented crisis.
The collective indignation rose in tone because at the beginning of the week they had just added service to that hydrometric sector after 22 days without receiving it. With the new break, no one knows when it will be restored.
The population experienced moments of tension amid the power outage and the sudden flood that occurredwhich could not be controlled until almost three hours after the aqueduct closed its pumping operations and the liquid in the pipeline gradually decreased.
On both occasions, and from areas where they were not in danger, The police urged residents not to demonstrate or film videosin an attempt to stop them from posting what happened on social networks.
Recently, Antonio Rodríguez, head of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), recognized that breakdowns are often repaired poorly and the workers have to return more than once to the same place; while Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted that 90% of the more than 7,100 opinions collected in Cuba consider state water services disastrous.
In the opinion of the people of Santiago, what Díaz-Canel said during the fourth program From the Presidencydedicated to that topic, only hints at the difficult situation that the locals are experiencing and covers up the negligence with which the State faces such a sensitive problem.
The Micro 7 Hole is located at the entrance to the municipal landfill and has traditionally been a source of dengue and other diseases. Over there excrement and sewage circulate for everyone to see without the authorities doing anything.
Meanwhile, Calle 13 is the most emblematic site of the “Cordón de la Miseria”, a strip where slums made of sticks, cardboard, pieces of zinc, pieces of nylon, old sacks and dirt floors demonstrate the false benefits of socialism.
The explosions of the water pipelines in Santiago de Cuba are due to operational deficienciessince the pipelines of the dams of the northeastern system must overcome important elevations, where pressures are generally not regulated and the regulations for their transfer are violated.
The Quintero Water Treatment Plant guarantees 80% of the water supply to the second largest city in Cubaincluding all hospitals and major residential communities.
Although the city has sufficient water resources and a decade ago the State invested more than 200 million dollars to provide it with the most modern aqueduct in Cuba, thousands of families use a rudimentary rainwater storage system for cooking, washing and washing. their children’s clothes.
The work of the local aqueduct is so deficient that it is comparable to the situation generated by hunger and energy collapse.
In this regard, Waldis González Peinado, vice president of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power, pointed out that the lack of control and the violation of technical standards are some of the causes that aggravate the situation.
In Santiago de Cuba the exits are so large that they have become recreation areas and car and animal washers.. An example of how much and how the water that citizens lack is wasted.
