Lack of Water is Triggering Unrest Among the People of San Antonio de Cabezas

Lack of Water is Triggering Unrest Among the People of San Antonio de
Cabezas / 14ymedio

14ymedio, San Antonio de Cabezas, Matanzas, 12 June 2016 — A few hours
after celebrating 194 years since the founding of the town of San
Antonio de Cabezas, its inhabitants marked two weeks without a water
supply. The turbine that caters to this community, located in the
Matanza town of Union de Reyes, suffered a break in late May and has not
yet been repaired. The Institute of Hydraulic Resources in the province
installed new pumping equipment but it was damaged by the ineptitude of
the operators, local people complained.

The lack of water continues in the region where it is estimated that
about 7,000 people live. The manifestations of popular discontent have
risen in he town, before the local authorities' prohibition on the
residents organizing themselves to pay for water trucks. The price of
truck ranges from 180 to 250 Cuban pesos.

Last week a command post began operating, led by the secretary of the
Municipal Party and staffed by officers of the National Revolutionary
Police (PNR). The group is focused on monitoring popular unrest and
tackling the "social indiscipline" associated with the search for and
the transport of the precious liquid.

The nearest source of supply, located near the La Lima sugar workers
town, about two and a half miles from the town center, has benefited
from the rains of recent days that have nurtured the rich groundwater
that characterizes the area, close to the Santa Barbara and Garabato
rivers. However, the transfer of water is complicated by the problems of
acquiring fuel for the vehicles.

The town also has a large elevated water tank and a turbine that runs on
oil, dedicated to exceptional situations such as hurricanes, storms or
electrical outages. However, local authorities still have not received
the order from the central government to interpret the current crisis as
an emergency.

Several people have told this newspaper that they feel deceived and that
their complaints "fall on deaf ears." A citizen said she made a call to
the offices of the municipal Party demanding an explanation and the
official who took the call exhorted her to go and "bathe in the river."

This Monday, 13 June, to mark the anniversary of the founding of the
town, the Catholic Church will carry am image of its patron saint, San
Antonio, through the town. The town's elders say that in previous years
there have frequently been downpours during the popular procession, an
opportunity the residents are awaiting to get the water that for weeks
hasn't come through the pipes.

In the middle of last year it was unveiled at the sessions of the
National Assembly of People's Power that currently leaks and failures
are resulting in the loss of close to 50% of the water pumped
nationwide. A situation exacerbated because Cuba is experiencing its
most severe drought in 115 years.

Source: Lack of Water is Triggering Unrest Among the People of San
Antonio de Cabezas / 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/lack-of-water-is-triggering-unrest-among-the-people-of-san-antonio-de-cabezas-14ymedio/