The project is part of efforts by the Cuban government to provide a stable water supply to the population throughout the island, even in times of drought.

While this year the countrys reservoirs are at normal or above normal levels, a lack of rainfall in recent years led the government to undergo numerous projects to deliver water from alternative sources to the population of several eastern provinces.

Laureano Ferrer Chong, a specialist at the provincial Hydraulics Resources office in Guantanamo, said the new aqueduct also includes a significant energy savings with the elimination of two pumping stations no longer needed.

Carlos Lage pointed out that while a definitive solution for a reliable water supply to some 60,000 Guantanamo residents living on the south side of the city is found, efforts should center on repairing the exiting distribution networks and on water conservation.

Lage said that another aqueduct project is planned to begin next year for the city of Baracoa, located to the northeast of the province of Guantanamo.

Source: Granma