Thursday, April 14, 2011

Cuba faces its worst drought for 50 years

Cuba faces its worst drought for 50 years
14 April 2011 Last updated at 10:02 GMT

Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century, with tens of
thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for
essential supplies.

The drought started two years ago, and reservoirs are now down to a
fifth of their normal levels.

The government is providing road deliveries of water to more than
100,000 people in the worst affected areas of the capital, Havana.

The situation in Havana is compounded by a pipe network in poor condition.

The state-run newspaper Granma says up to 70% of water pipes supplying
the capital are leaking and in urgent need of repair, the BBC's Michael
Voss in Havana says.

Residents are having to use buckets and bottles to fill up with water
from the road deliveries.

"It's completely out of control," one resident, Ana Gomez, said. "Just
imagine that you can't wash when you want to, you have to wash when you
are able to."

Another, Enrique Olivera Gonzalez, said: "As there is no water, you
can't wash your clothes, cook, or clean your house."

Cubans are hoping the rainy season in May and June will bring some respite.

But even a normal rainfall will not be enough to fill up the reservoirs,
our correspondent says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13079773

No comments:

Post a Comment