Drought Affects Hundreds of Thousands in Eastern Cuba

Guantanamo, Cuba, Jan 28 (ACN) Over 132 thousand Cuban in several municipalities of this eastern province are being affected by server drought which has left to the depletion of drinking water sources.

Communist Party leader in Guantanamo Rafael Perez and Governor Emilio Matos checked the complex scenario in the easter city marked by poor access to drinking water sources given the scarce rainfalls and exhausted river basins which cannot benefit local reservoirs.

Water Resources official Maryori Rubio said water levels at local reservoirs are currently at only 38 percent of their capacities and decreasing. Major concerns focus on the reservoir named Faustino Perez with only six million cubic meters of water near its dead volume which would be four million. This reservoir usually provides water to to over 70 percent of the citizens of Guantanamo city, which has 42 percent of all the population of the province.

Rubio said that under the scarcity of water, direct delivery will take place every nine days for most of the city capital, while some 14 thousand inhabitants will be provided drinking water by cistern tanks.

In the face of the complex scenario, Governor Emilio Matos call to adopt all organizational actions to minimize the impact on the people and to use all possible cistern trucks from state and private entities to deliver water.

Meanwhile, Communist Party leader Rafael Perez call on all water resources directives and experts to take appropriate actions and inform the people about the ways water will be delivered.
According to National Hydrology Director Argelio Fernandez, last year was the seven driest period in Cuba since 1901.