More than 90% of Venezuelans lack continuous drinking water, according to the opposition

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 90% of Venezuelans do not receive drinking water continuously, denounced this Tuesday former opposition deputy Nora Bracho, who highlighted the importance of its supply given the covid-19 pandemic.

“Unfortunately, the problem of the drinking water service in Venezuela continues to gain ground and is worsening due to the risk we Venezuelans have in the face of the global pandemic of covid-19,” said Bracho, according to an opposition communiqué.

In this sense, she stressed that water “is a human right and the country is far from guaranteeing it”, even though it is “an essential element to make effective other prerogatives such as health and food”.

In this respect, she affirmed that for more than 20 years, hardly any investment had been made to create new water sources or to adapt drinking water treatment facilities.

Gilmar Márquez, also a former congressman, pointed out that the drinking water service in the country “is chaotic”, and that the water that reaches homes “is not fit for human consumption”.

He recalled that most of the regional hydrological companies were intervened, as is the case of Aguas de Mérida and Hidrológica del Lago de Maracaibo (HidroLago), which, in his opinion, has affected the lives of the citizens of those states “due to the negligence and bureaucracy that reigns in these companies to respond to any complaint in this matter”.

The scarce supply of water, both in the cities and in rural areas, forces many Venezuelans to resort to springs to obtain it and meet their daily hygiene, health, and nutritional needs.

Former legislator Deyalitza Aray assured that the Government of Nicolás Maduro “does not have any planning to solve the drinking water problem in the country” and highlighted the case of the central state of Carabobo “because there are enough elements that show the carelessness, the neglect but above all, the corruption”.

“It is enough to review the budget, each law of indebtedness with pompous programs, investment claims, and designation of resources, which never materialized, while in the population it becomes more difficult to achieve potable water”, he concluded.