Artemisa, Cuba – The theft of batteries at five electrical substations in Artemisa province, at the risk of the thieves’ lives, was acknowledged by the weekly paper El Artemiseño, the official Communist Party organ in the province.
The batteries stolen in 2013 were from circuit breakers, called NULEC, in substations at Mariel, San Antonio de los Baños, Caimito and Artemisa, according to the report of the journalist Yailín Alicia Chacón, in the 11-17 February edition of the paper.
These batteries are for electric bicycles, musical equipment, and as back-ups (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) for personal computers, which are all very expensive in the State market. For example, the cost of an electric bike battery is 2,875 Cuban pesos (about $120 USD), and they only last about two years.
The director general of the provincial Power Company, Martín de la Concepción Cordero, acknowledged that, “There is still no solution for such outrages and unscrupulous attitudes of people who enter our facilities to take these batteries.”
This new type of theft is added to the theft of the aluminum cross beams of the high tension towers, traffic signs, railroad ties and others that endanger the lives of the perpetrators of the crime and/or third parties after their execution.
Cubanet, 17 February 2014, Moises Leonardo Rodriguez
corrientemartiana2004@gmail.com
