The minister explained the causes of the debacle in the sector: “lack of tires, batteries, parts and spare parts, lubricants, oil and special liquids”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 October 2024 — It was just a matter of time before Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, the “Minister of Facebook,” reported on how the total blackout in which the Island is immersed has fatally injured Cuban transport. The “contingency of the electricity system” – the usual euphemism with which the official press insists on describing the massive energy debacle – has been disastrous for the whole country, but especially, the official reported, for the eastern provinces.
The train and bus routes that connect Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Bayamo, Manzanillo and Guantánamo with Havana – a transport network that has been showing signs of exhaustion for at least eight months – have been severely affected by the lack of fuel. Therefore, in the face of the most recent blackout, they face “complex conditions due to various operational aspects, related to fuel supply,” according to Rodríguez himself, but this is only the icing on the cake.
The situation within the provinces is even worse. In Santiago de Cuba, the provincial transport company, since the first half of the year, has fulfilled only 45.7% of its plan for the period, which translates into less than half of the passengers it had planned to transport.
Rodríguez ventured to explain the causes of the debacle in the sector: “the lack of tires, batteries, parts and spare parts, lubricants, oil and special liquids for the sustainability of the fleets. On the other hand, only 56.1% of the fuel planned for the first eight months of the year has been available. The above aggravates the working conditions, organization and quality of services.”
“The figures from Granma province are even more serious than those of Santiago de Cuba,” the minister also said on his social networks
“The figures from Granma province are even more serious than those of Santiago de Cuba,” the minister also said on his social networks. The numbers support that sad panorama in the province, where the company failed to comply with the provincial plan by 76.4% and operates only 7.7% of the bus fleet, which received only 21.9% of the fuel that corresponded to it in that period.
The “alternative” vehicles, such as electric tricycles – allegedly prepared to overcome the fuel shortage – have not been an efficient solution in Granma province either. Despite the fact that the authorities, including Rodríguez Dávila himself, have promoted them as the solution to all the mobility problems of the Island, the service is not well organized. It is insufficient, of low quality and unable to help the Island recover from the general blackout.
The situation resembles those of other eastern provinces such as Holguín, where at the end of August, only 37.7% of the trips originally scheduled had been made.
The data show a compliance of 17.3% in the case of urban buses, 56.9% for interurban buses, 30.9% for public transport and 45.1% for rural buses. “The province has assets of just over 50% its buses, which have less than a third of the fuel planned for the eight months of the year,” the minister said.
In Guantánamo, the data are almost identical to those of the other provinces. Less than half of the passengers were carried, only 44% of the vehicles are still in operation, and the fuel allocation was barely one-fifth of what was needed.
Rodríguez Dávila introduces in his reports phrases such as, “Behind the complex situation of transport in each territory there are very sharp financial and resource limitations”; “It is not something that can be solved in only one visit”; and, “It is possible to reverse all this” – hoping to appease public opinion. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to explain to Cubans why, in the midst of a general blackout, only planes continue to operate, flying in and out of in the country.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
