Residents of Los Cocos Street, in the municipality of Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, reported that they have been without regular water supply for over six months through the pipes, a situation that has forced them to turn to trucks and other alternatives to meet their household needs.
The report was released this Thursday by the social communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who shared images of residents, including the elderly and children, gathered around a water truck as they filled buckets and other containers.
According to Mayeta, the pipe was sent after complaints from the neighbors to the local government, but so far it has been the only one allocated to the community.
“After more than six months, the arrival of a tanker cannot be presented as a definitive solution,” noted the communicator, who demanded answers regarding the causes of the prolonged disruption and when the service could be restored reliably.
A resident stated in the comments of the post that local officials and representatives from Acueducto were already aware of the issue and had visited the area after repeated complaints.
According to their account, they were informed that the cause would be a disconnection from the street and that it was planned to open the area with an excavator to carry out the work, but they stated that the intervention had not yet been executed.
"They still haven't come; we're still waiting," wrote the neighbor.
Other users took advantage of the report to describe similar difficulties in various communities.
A person stated that in Mutilao and the buildings of La Cuba they have been without a drop of water for "months and months", while another asserted that some areas of the municipality of San Luis are approaching "a year with serious irregularities in the service".
From El Salao, as it is popularly known, at the Abel Santamaría Urban Center in the city of Santiago de Cuba, another comment stated that they have been experiencing difficulties for nearly four months and described disputes among neighbors trying to obtain small amounts of water from a broken pipe.
The difficulties in Los Cocos occur in a municipality that has long been struggling with serious supply issues.
In May 2025, the Water and Sewerage Company Aguas Turquino acknowledged serious disruptions in Palma Soriano: the municipality was supposed to receive about 300 liters per second, but only 150 were being delivered, and there were areas with distribution cycles exceeding 30 days.
The then general director of the entity, Maricela Fernández Hernández, attributed part of the difficulties to repeated breakdowns in pumping equipment and issues with sources such as La Teresita and the Hatillo Dam.
In other municipalities of Santiago, such as San Luis and Songo-La Maya, the cycles then reached to extend between 70 and more than 80 days.
The problems have persisted throughout 2026. In July, a breakdown in the main pipeline of the Northwest system drastically reduced the water supply in Santiago de Cuba, impacting the flow to the Quintero I and II treatment plants.
Electrical outages have also worsened access to water. At the beginning of September, residents of the 18-story buildings in Garzón, in Santiago de Cuba, reported that they had to carry water from the street to the upper floors because the blackouts prevented the use of the pumping turbines.
The situation is part of a much broader supply crisis on the island.
At the end of May, data from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources indicated that around 2.7 million Cubans lacked regular daily access to drinking water, while nearly 10 million experienced some form of intermittent supply.
At that moment, the hydraulic system was operating with about 37% of the fuel needed to keep the pumping stations running.
Related videos:
Filed under: