A resident of the edificio Granma in the Nuevo Vedado neighborhood (Plaza de la Revolución municipality, Havana) reported in a Facebook video that the generator installed by ETECSA nearby produces unbearable noise all day and night, with no action taken by the company.
Isabel Maria Garcia Rey published a 54-second video in which the background noise of the generator is clearly audible while she explains the situation from inside her apartment.
“Believe me, that noise you're hearing in the background is much stronger live than it can be heard here. It’s the entire day of the ETECSA generator plant, all day long, morning, afternoon, and night, because they’re only giving us two hours of electricity a day,” stated the complainant.
According to the neighbor, the noise exceeds the decibel levels permitted by Cuban regulations and can be heard throughout the entire home: in the living room, bedrooms, and other areas, making it impossible to sleep and even to have a normal conversation.
"They do nothing; they don't care that all of us neighbors here in the Granma building are affected. I can imagine that the shoemakers next door are also upset, unable to sleep, unable to even speak," said Garcia Rey, who noted that the neighboring building is suffering the same issue.
The complainant was straightforward in pointing out the state company's inaction: "How much longer do we have to put up with this? ETECSA doesn't have resources to do anything else, I'm sure they do. The thing is, it's two oil tankers a day for that little plant. It consumes more than a dragon."
The situation illustrates a dual impact: residents suffer from both the lack of electricity and the noise generated by the mechanism ETECSA uses to supply it.
The complaint arises in the context of the worst energy crisis in Cuba in decades, with power outages lasting between 20 and 22 hours daily in Havana, acknowledged by the government itself. On May 14, the Minister of Energy justified these outages and attributed them to fuel shortages.
On June 3rd, the Electric Union projected a shortfall of 1,905 MW for the nighttime peak, with a demand of 3,150 MW and a barely available supply of 1,265 MW, numbers that reflect the collapse of the national electrical system.
Nuevo Vedado had already been the scene of neighborhood protests: on May 13, residents of Block 1 protested after 24 consecutive hours without electricity, and the service was restored shortly after the protest began.
Cuban regulations govern noise pollution through Law 81 of the Environment and standard NC 26:2012, which sets maximum acceptable levels that differentiate between daytime and nighttime for residential areas. Decree-Law 200 penalizes environmental violations, including noise emissions that exceed established levels. In practice, however, state entities like ETECSA operate without accountability towards affected residents.
Filed under: