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FROM
CUBA
Water scarce in areas of Havana
HAVANA, April 1 (Ernesto Roque / www.cubanet.org)
- Several areas of Havana have seen water
become more scarce for at least a month.
Leandra Caraballo, for instance, who lives
west of the city in outlying Santa Fe, said
the supply of water had "decayed"
in the last month.
Roberto Larramendi, who lives in central
Havana on San Nicolás Street, explained
that neighbors in his building get together
and finagle a truck load of water to fill
the building's cistern every three days.
"If we were to wait for the tanker
trucks the government is supposed to send,
we'd die of thirst," said Larramendi.
Yolanda Huerga, in the east Havana neighborhood
of Alamar, said they have been without water
for the last five days. "I live in
the upper floor of a five-story building,
and I've had to take the water up in buckets,
but only thanks to some neighbors who let
me have some from their reserves. To fill
my tanks today, we had to shut off the water
of all the other apartments," said
Huerga.
Pedro Leonel Ordóñez, in
Marianao, said the scarcity of water became
noticeable during March, and acute this
past week.
A source who requested his name not be
used, said at a meeting of directors of
the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources,
the Havana delegate acknowledged that deliveries
are down by 20 percent, while exploitation
is running 50 percent above what it should
be at this time of year. The delegate pointed
out that about 30 percent of the water is
lost to leaks in the distribution system.
Versión
original en español
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