14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 29 March 2024 — Luisa López was stunned this Wednesday when, under her door, in the city of Sancti Spíritus, someone left a water bill. On the piece of paper was the amount of 1,200 pesos, a fee that had accumulated since 2020, when the Cuban authorities decreed the suspension of collection for the service, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nobody warned us; this came out of the blue, and it’s a lot of money, practically all my monthly pension,” says this resident of the Kilo 12 neighborhood. Although in other provinces the water bill was restored shortly after the end of the deadliest stage of the pandemic, in Sancti Spíritus many customers of the Aqueduct and Sewerage Company still received the service even though they hadn’t paid.
“It’s not so much that they’re charging me for the water, which I can understand, but that all this accumulated debt arrives now”
“It’s not so much that they’re charging me for the water, which I can understand, but that all this accumulated debt arrives now, and they don’t allow you to pay it off a little at a time,” complains López. In her neighborhood, some people have decided not to pay their bills, which in many cases exceed four digits, despite the fear that their supply will be cut off. To make matters worse, the monthly cost per person of the water consumed during the pandemic went from five to seven pesos.
In the province, water is not charged per cubic meter due to the lack of consumption meters. Instead, each family pays a fixed rate for each person.
“Everything is very poorly organized, because in my block there are people who have received a bill with a very
