Waste piles up in Cuba as US-imposed fuel blockade halts collection trucks

"The United States-imposed fuel crisis in Cuba is also turning into a waste and health crisis, as many collection trucks have been left with empty fuel tanks, causing refuse to pile up on the streets of the capital, Havana, and other cities and towns. Only 44 of Havana's 106 rubbish trucks have been able to keep operating due to the fuel shortages, slowing rubbish collection, as waste piles up on Havana's street corners, the Reuters news agency reported on Monday, citing state-run news outlet Cubadebate."

"Other towns are also seeing rubbish pile up, and residents have taken to social media to raise the alarm over the risk to public health, according to Reuters, citing Cuban media. It's all over the city, said Jose Ramon Cruz, a resident of Havana. It's been more than 10 days since a garbage truck came, Cruz told Reuters. The mounting rubbish crisis has added to the suffering on the tiny island-state, which US President Donald Trump described on Monday as a failed nation."

"Cuba is now a failed nation. They don't even have jet fuels to get their aeroplanes to take off, they're plugging up their runway, Trump said. We're talking to Cuba right now, and Marco Rubio is talking to Cuba right now, and they should absolutely make a deal. Because it's really a humanitarian threat, he said. Cuba's severe fuel crisis is a result of the US cutting off crucial oil supplies once imported from Venezuela."

Cuba faces a severe fuel shortage that has triggered a mounting waste and public-health crisis. Many refuse-collection trucks are idle because of empty fuel tanks, leaving only 44 of Havana's 106 rubbish trucks operating and causing waste to accumulate on street corners. Other towns also report growing piles of garbage, and residents are warning of public-health risks after some neighborhoods went more than ten days without collection. The fuel crisis follows cuts to oil supplies previously imported from Venezuela and is exacerbated by US measures that allow sanctions on countries supplying oil to Cuba.

Read at www.aljazeera.com