DEVELOPMENT-CUBA: Lugging Water in Havana

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Sep 17 2000 (IPS) - The sight of people lugging buckets and jugs of water home from tank wagons is becoming routine in the Cuban capital, where the already habitual water supply problems have been aggravated by even more frequent interruptions of the service in the past few weeks.

“Everyday when I get up, the first thing that pops into my mind is whether or not there will be water today,” says Cita Gómez, 42, who lives on Obispo Street, the main thoroughfare of Old Havana.

Gómez lives in one of the few tall and relatively modern buildings that can be found in Old Havana. For years, her apartment building has been plagued by water shortages, with running water available only two or three hours a day.

The water deficit is one of the biggest problems facing the more than 96,000 residents of Old Havana, which was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1986.

Thanks to new underground power lines, the old part of the city was freed from the blackouts that have plagued Cuba over the past decade, and which continue to cause problems in a number of cities and towns.

In addition, local authorities began last year to provide solutions to problems with other public services, by expanding the number of telephone lines and making household gas available throughout the city.

But the water deficit has not yet been solved, and the causes go beyond the actual availability of water or the quantity pumped out daily. The main problem is the poor state of Havana’s system of water pipes.

“On top of our normal problems, in the past few weeks, when you least expect it, there is no water in the entire neighbourhood,” complained Gómez. “You just don’t know how you’re going to cook, clean, wash, or take a bath.”

Every Saturday, Gómez tries to forget “the week-long frantic rush” to fill every available recipient when the water is running, by visiting a friend’s house on the outskirts of the city. “I bring along the dirty clothes that have piled up and take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a good shower.”

A communique released by Aguas, the Cuban-Spanish water company, reported that the recent interruptions in the supply were caused by maintenance and repair works.

Aguas, a joint venture comprised of the Spanish company Canaraguas belonging to the Aguas de Barcelona group, and the Cuban firm Aguas del Oeste, administers Havana’s water pipes and sewer and drainage systems.

The state National Information Agency (AIN) said Aguas was conducting studies to determine how to benefit the greatest number of people with the smallest possible investment.

The joint venture was created with an eight million dollar investment each from the Spanish and Cuban companies, to be complemented by a 25-million dollar loan to the Cuban firm Aguas del Oeste that is to make new investments possible.

The work needed to improve the provision of drinking water in the capital will require an initial investment of around 33 million dollars, the AIN reported.

Sources at Aguas say that at the current rate, Havana’s population of 2.1 million will begin to receive higher quality drinking water and improved service within two or three years.

But Cuba’s government-monopolised press warned that Aguas would have its work cut out, due to the sorry state of the water pipes.

Government reports from the early 1990s indicated that nearly 12 percent of Cuba’s population of around 11 million had no access to clean water, while just over 900,000 lacked sewer services.

But Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage announced late last year that more than 1.5 million people in rural communities had benefited by the installation of water systems in the previous five years.

Cuba is not alone when it comes to water supply problems. A report released during the World Water Forum, held in March in The Hague, points out that one billion people in the developing world have no access to clean water.

According to the latest official statistics, 74 percent of Cuba’s water resources go to agriculture, 12 percent to household usage, and the rest to industry and other uses.

“Analysis of the Drinking Water and Sewerage Sector”, a report drawn up by local institutions in conjunction with the Pan- American Health Organisation (PAHO), found that one-third of Cuba’s water and sewer systems were in urgent need of renovation.

Basic problems identified by the study were the deterioration of the quality of drinking water, the decline in the number of hours during which water is available, and the unreliability of the public service.

The government-affiliated Group for the Integral Development of the Capital (GDIC), meanwhile, reported in 1998 that the amount of water pumped out in the Cuban capital could potentially meet demand.

However, that goal has not been achieved due to constant leakage from deteriorated water pipes, which the group blamed for the loss of more than 60 percent of the water flowing through the city’s pipes.

Cuba has set a daily quota of 470 litres of water per person for cities with more than 500,000 residents. Of that total, some 225 litres a day per person are to go to domestic consumption.

But studies show that 95 percent of domestic consumers in Havana actually use less than 200 litres a day each, while many consume as little as 121 litres a day.

“In my home there is always water, but the other day I had to carry 30 buckets up to the third floor where I live. And now they say the same thing is going to happen again this week,” complains Emilio Valdés, who lives in the downtown neighbourhood of El Vedado in the modern part of Havana.

But in general terms, “you could say we are privileged,” he added. “Here we are not short on water, which almost always runs all day long.”