Residents of several communities in Alajuelita and Tibas who have been affected by the lack of water in recent months raised their voices to respond to the statements made by the executive president of AyA, Juan Manuel Quesada. Quesada said last Tuesday that “it seems disproportionate to demand that drinking water be supplied 24/7, in a context in which we are going through an extremely dry and hot summer.”
The head of the AyA denies that the affected communities spend more than 4 days without potable water. However, community members describe a different reality.
“I urge him to come to our homes. The neighbors are willing to open the doors of their homes, so that he can see that what we tell him is not a lie and we aren’t just making things up,” said the representative of the neighbors of Alajuelita. The neighbors allege that the palliative measures implemented by AyA, such as cisterns, are insufficient to address the water crisis.
“He says (AyA president) that we do not go without water because he sends a cistern and the cistern is not equivalent to the potable water that comes through the pipes for which we pay,” Calderón argued. A senior citizen from the community of Tibás also commented that water shortages impact the whole area.
“The executive president of AyA insists that the communities are liars when the reality is that it is true that it is three or seven days in the houses, which affects daily life. The executive president lies to the communities,” he said. AyA plans to incorporate 30 new sources that will produce more than 82 million liters per day during the remainder of the year and by 2025.
The population of Alajuelita assures that while these measures are necessary, they do not provide a solution to their current problems. Another concern of the affected neighbors lies in the billing of a service they have not received for weeks.
While the effects of climate change are undeniable, Quesada had pointed out in a recent interview that Costa Rica doesn’t have a water supply problem but rather lacks sufficient infrastructure due to poor planning from the AyA.
