A Danger for Pedestrians and Vehicles at Carlos III Center

A post located in Carlos III, between Ayestarán and Requena, in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución. (Collage)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 20 August 2021 — Havana is falling apart. No matter how much that phrase is pronounced among Cubans and especially by those from the capital, it will not be enough, given the serious infrastructure problems that are seen in every corner of a city that is home to more than two million inhabitants.

This is the case at Carlos III — a four-story shopping mall — between Ayestarán and Requena, in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, right across from the veterinary clinic. The public lighting in the area has problems with the poles and streetlights.

Some of the supporting poles, such as the one captured by the 14ymedio lens, are a danger to pedestrians and vehicles. They lack a rigid support at their base, they are bent, almost to the point of falling onto the public street.

The most recent repair of streetlights on the capital’s roads was focused only on a part of the Malecón from Maceo Park to Paseo del Prado. In addition, according to the Office of the Historian of Havana, the Martí Park and the lights located at the entrance of the Bahía Tunnel were going to be included.

While other areas of the capital continue with deteriorated public lighting such as in the Plaza municipality, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel went to the La Güinera Popular Council, in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality, without taking into account a resurgence of covid cases that does not decline.

According to the official press, the president went to the place on Friday “to speak with the authorities, local actors and the population about the process of transformation that is being undertaken in the community.”

In a first stage, work is being done on “urbanization, asphalt, bridge repair, hydraulic and sanitary infrastructure, roads, housing connections,” according to information published in the official Twitter account of the Cuban presidency.

In exactly that area, one of the most depressed areas of Havana, Diubis Laurencio Tejeda was shot and killed by policeman during the protests that began on July 11 (11J).

After learning of the death of Laurencio Tejeda, the Government has used La Güinera for its regular political propaganda and has sent several officials. “They wanted to rob our neighborhood,” Díaz-Canel said this Friday from the community. The Government also affirmed that the “actions to improve the infrastructure” are carried out with the support of the community and various entities.

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