HAVANA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 2.6 million people in Cuba are affected by disruptions to piped water supplies, a water resources official said Wednesday.
"As of Tuesday, 2,681,770 inhabitants were affected by disruptions to the piped water network," Antonio Rodriguez, president of the National Hydraulic Resources Institute, said on a radio program hosted by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and broadcast by state-run Radio Rebelde in Havana.
Another 25 percent of the disruptions were attributed to problems with water-pumping equipment, he said.
In Havana alone, 536,000 people were affected, the highest figure among the country's provinces, he added.
To tackle the problem in Havana, authorities plan to build 10 solar farms with a combined capacity of 200 megawatts, along with energy storage systems, to support three of the capital's water supply sources, Rodriguez announced.
The project is due to be completed by August 2027, though efforts are underway to shorten the timeline, the official said.
According to Diaz-Canel, the problem stems from aging infrastructure and insufficient maintenance, which have not been addressed on the necessary scale, as well as the energy crisis, which limits the availability of fuel for pumping water and generating electricity.
Diaz-Canel also cited the U.S. trade embargo as a key factor contributing to the crisis.
Cuba's government intends to develop a comprehensive program to restore the network's infrastructure and pumping systems, to ensure the water supply becomes less dependent on electrical power. ■
