The city of Nueva Gerona has lacked decent public restrooms for decades, a reality that turns its main boulevard into an unhygienic place where, at night, corners and doorways are used as improvised urinals.
Despite the importance of the urban center, the medical facilities that once existed in the capital of the special municipality Isla de la Juventud have been abandoned or repurposed without any guarantees for maintenance or improvement, leaving the population without basic essential services.
"The capital of the pineros does not have public restrooms that truly deserve that name. And at night, the columns or recesses of the porticos take on that role. In the morning, walking along the covered part of the boulevard requires... being... careful," described the official newspaper Victoria.
In the 1990s, the city had two public bathrooms equipped with facilities that included showers, lockers, and personal hygiene products, operating 24 hours a day. These were times when Nueva Gerona attracted many tourists and international students, driven by events like the International FotoSub and prominent sports figures such as swimmer Déborah Andollo.
But with the intensification of the economic crisis, they closed down and their spaces were taken over by state institutions, with no alternatives offered for the public. Although their rescue was later proposed as part of the boulevard project, the works never came to fruition.
Today, the media outlet recalls that the only "service" available is on 22nd Street, between 39th and 37th, in terrible conditions: without electricity, closed at night, and with no maintenance whatsoever.
A temporary solution exists: the Victoria theater, adapted as an outdoor space, retains underground connections and the necessary infrastructure for public restrooms. It only needs to reactivate and connect the facilities so that Nueva Gerona does not continue to carry a problem that highlights the lack of priorities and planning in urban management.
The prolongation of this neglect not only degrades a vital public space but also reflects the indifference of government authorities towards basic needs that should be guaranteed in any city.
In 2013, the Cuban Government decided to privatize the management of public restrooms by allowing self-employed workers to lease and operate these services, thereby alleviating the state's expenses.
The scarcity of public sanitation services in the country is a significant factor when analyzing practices such as urination and defecation in public spaces, a situation that has become entrenched in busy avenues and streets of various Cuban cities.
In this regard, the official press has called for the installation of public restrooms in provinces like Santiago de Cuba, after acknowledging that many of its residents have come to accept performing their physiological needs in public spaces as something normal and commonplace, visible to all.
In addition to the objective lack of sufficient public restrooms due to inadequate management by local governments, this phenomenon can also be understood as a clear indication of the civic degradation that today characterizes Cuban society, where the disregard for basic norms of social behavior prevails.
However, citizens have also reported the unsanitary conditions of many restrooms in schools, international airports, and hospitals, amidst the deep structural crisis the country is experiencing.
Filed under:
