The Matanzas journalist Yirmara Torres Hernández reported this Friday that residents of Salamanca and San Gabriel streets, in the Los Mangos and Simpson neighborhoods, have been without a single drop of water for eight months due to a valve closed by Aqueduct workers.
In a video published on Facebook, Torres explained that the neighbors have gone to the Municipal and Provincial Aqueduct, presented the problem to Population Care officials, and have even tried to open the valve on their own.
According to what he reported, the workers of Acueducto closed the valve and, despite being aware of the situation for months, have not returned to fix the problem.
The former president of the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC) in Matanzas indicated that at the point where the valve is located, vegetation had already begun to grow around it after such a long time.
Torres questioned the reasons for the closure and stated that the residents are unaware of why the decision was made. He also highlighted the proximity of the Water Supply offices to the affected area, yet the problem remains unresolved.
The journalist also pointed out that several state water trucks circulate in the area, but none have delivered water to the affected residents during these eight months.
Only on one occasion did a delegate manage to get a water truck to deliver water to the block, a benefit that also extended to the residents of the affected area.
The complaint reflects the frustration of the neighbors regarding a situation that, according to Torres, is known by municipal and provincial officials. "Eight months without water. Who cares?" he questioned during the video.
This is not the first time that Torres has raised his voice about the water crisis in his province. In May 2026, he reported that his block had gone nearly two months without water, while the liquid was being wasted through leaks on Compostela Street.
In July, residents of the municipality of Colón reported three months without drinking water and power outages lasting over 72 hours with no institutional response. In mid-August, a power failure left all of Cárdenas without water, the second most important city in the province.
Data from April regarding water supply in Matanzas revealed that over 300,000 residents of the province lacked stability in their supply, and of the 518,000 residents who receive water through pipes, more than 29,000 experienced ongoing shortages due to breaks in the networks.
In April, the Vice Prime Minister Inés María Chapman met with executives from the Aqueduct in Matanzas without providing concrete solutions or timelines.
As the only structural response, the authorities projected the construction of a new well over 20 meters deep with a submerged pump of 100 liters per second, with no defined execution date, in order to benefit more than 60,000 residents of the popular council of Versalles and the industrial zone of the Athens of Cuba.
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