"We live like dogs," says CDR President

Cuba’s water company, Aguas de La Habana, withdrew its service to the residents of “Finca Pacheco,” (Pachecho Farms) in the borough of Marianao three years ago. Since then, the residents must carry water from a nearby reservoir for bathing, washing pots and sometimes, for cooking.

Maria Elena Perez Perez is president of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) # 6 and she’s tired of dealing with the evasions of government and public health authorities regarding the problem. She decided to talk to Radio Martí’s program Contacto Cuba, led by journalists Norma Miranda and Luis Felipe Rojas.

In Cuba, water tank trucks are used to supply water to the cities. On the island, these tanks are referred to as “pipas,” or pipes.

"Three years ago the pipes that were coming to us were suspended. I went to the government of Marianao and had an interview with the first secretary of the party (Communist Party of Cuba, PCC)," says Perez.

Perez also said that the director of Aguas de La Habana , which had a three decade contract with the neighborhood and the city government, visited her home and promised that "in less than ten days, the problem would be solved." It has now been a year and a half. The response from the capital has been, “There are no pipe tanks.”

“We live like dogs”

The pipes previously assigned to the area were free, but now cost between 250 and 300 pesos in national currency.

“We have to go up to the highway and see if some tank driver would take the risk to give us water. We had three who took that risk and now they are frightened and refuse to come. Now we don’t have any water, either free or paid for," Perez said.
They wait for the animals to leave the dam so that they can bathe or carry water to clean their homes. That makes insalubrity worse in a neighborhood of about 70 homes.

"I'm asthmatic. I have emphysema. My grandson is five years old. For 11 days he was on the verge of death suffering from meningococcemia. When doctors investigated, they found that he had caught the bacteria in the dam. That child has had 23 hospital admissions and the first thing doctors say is that the child must have good hygiene, but we live like dogs here," said Perez.

Perez hinted that a week ago, she heard Raul Castro say that the population could not lack drinking water. She asks herself where the water that they have needed has been for the last three years. When questioned about whether General Castro knew of the situation she responded: "I think that if he knew the lack of respect that there is here, [where] in this country, ‘the children are the hope of the world,’ and that they are looking to kill them all--I don’t think things would turn out well.”

A house without water

Yaimara Gomez is the mother of a three year old. She lives in the same Havana neighborhood and laments the water shortage.

“This is a critical situation. The president of the CDR has raised the question and has not solved any problems. In the afternoons, animals are bathed to cool them off. We have to wait to for the animals to come out so that we can bathe ourselves. With that water, I bathe my child, wash dishes, flush the toilet, and sometimes I have to cook with it," says Gomez.

Promises have come and gone in bureaucratic meetings. “They have always said to wait, that they are going to solve the problem. But in the end, time passes and there is no solution," she concluded.