A bad smell invades the emergency room of the children's hospital La Colonia in Santiago de Cuba: "There are no cleaning assistants."

Parents who had to take their sick children to the Children's Hospital Sur (La Colonia), in Santiago de Cuba, denounced the foul odor that invades the emergency room.

Several affected individuals sent independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada photos showing the terrible hygiene of the place, with toilets full of urine and paper and a bucket supposed to be used for cleaning filled with black water.

According to a woman, there is no one in the waiting room because of the bad smell coming from the bathroom.

"It's unbearable, I spoke to the staff working here and they tell me it's because there are no cleaning assistants," he said.

"I am filing this complaint because it's disgusting to be with a sick child and have to collect a urine sample. I doubt that the results will be accurate under these conditions," he pointed out.

A man named Osvaldo, father of a child, recounted what he had to experience at the facility while waiting for the power to come on so that they could attend to the child and perform the indicated ultrasound to obtain a diagnosis.

Someone just showed up and started cleaning without bleach or water. There's a terrible smell of urine, look at how the water they are using to clean is now.

The reporter deviated from the topic of cleanliness to point out that this is not the first time that services have been halted in a hospital in Santiago de Cuba due to lack of electricity.

It attracts a lot of attention from parents how hospitals like these do not have generators and power plants, making it impossible for many services and appointments to be affected," he emphasized on his Facebook wall.

Just over a month ago, reporter Mayeta Labrada denounced the situation at the Juan Bruno Zayas Clinical Surgical Hospital in Santiago, where cockroaches roam freely, walking over the furniture in broad daylight and in plain view of everyone.

"The ones in charge at the Santiago Clinic are the cockroaches," he expressed at the time.

This is a widespread problem in all government institutions. This is the crappy power we have to thank for, he added.