HAVANA: Water shortages in Cuba are increasingly flaring tempers, including in capital Havana, as problems mount for hundreds of thousands of residents already ragged from shortfalls in food, fuel and electricity.
Upwards of 600,000 people – more than 1 in 20 on the Caribbean island of 10 million citizens – are suffering from water supply issues, officials said earlier this month.
Havana is the worst affected by water shortages, though most of the country’s largest cities report over 30,000 customers without water, the government has said.
Officials blame the growing problems on crumbling infrastructure and a persistent lack of fuel, symptoms of a festering economic crisis that has blighted growth and left the Communist-run country nearly bankrupt.
Rachel Trimiño, 32, said the root causes are no mystery, even in her Havana neighbourhood of Vedado, a comparatively upscale district of the capital.
“All of the streets are full of leaking pipes, clean running water … but nothing in our homes,” she said.
The problem defies quick fixes.
