The ’Río Júcaro’ and ’Río Las Casas’ ferries have reached the limit of their “water periods”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 August 2024 — “Is the Isle of Youth isolated?” The question of Cuba’s Minister of Transport this Wednesday, more than doubt, sounded like a joke. The situation, however, is serious, and Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila himself diagnosed it: the plane that covers the Havana-New Girona route is out of service due to technical problems; the Río Júcaro and Río Las Casas ferries – used in the Batabanó-Nueva Gerona-Cayo Largo del Sur circuit – are under repair, and the Perseverancia ferry, the only one that operates, is overexploited.
The panorama is that of an imminent collapse, and Rodríguez Dávila recognized it on his very active Facebook profile. In his message, he pointed out that the ferries have already been operating for more than 20 years and have reached the limit of their “water periods” – the normal life of a boat – with a serious lack of maintenance. The fault, he justified, is “the timely unavailability of convertible currencies for the acquisition of materials, inputs and basic pieces.”
Currently, he said, work is going at full speed on the repair of the Río Las Casas ferry, which went out of service on August 10, and, “if it is restored, it could return to the traffic with limitations.” The situation is even more complex, because only when they finish fixing this boat can the work on the Río Júcaro begin.
The panorama is one of imminent collapse, and Rodríguez Dávila recognizes it on his very active Facebook profile
The boats are unusable, and without flights to the territory, the Perseverancia ferry – which began operations a year after it was announced with great fanfare – is now the only means of transport for passengers since August 11. The minister warned that the boat is being overexploited and asked for “extreme care in its operation.” The ticket, at 200 pesos, is expensive for those who have to travel frequently and is one more limitation.
In addition, the ferry, which was built “somewhere in Asia” in 2018 – the authorities did not specify – and which Cuba bought for a “millionaire” amount from an unknown manufacturer, will work for two and a half years before being taken for maintenance, a date that is still far away, if you take into account that its first test trip was in July 2023. The boat’s workload could accelerate that process and leave the inhabitants of the special municipality without a means of transport.
Another transportation problem in the area is that the ferry cannot dock in Cayo Largo del Sur, since it has a greater draft than what is allowed. In addition, Perseverance now has some problems with air conditioning equipment, according to Internet user Sheila Pray, who responded to the minister’s post saying that “in these hot times, the Batabanó-Gerona crossing is infuriating.”
Another transportation problem in the area is that the ferry cannot dock in Cayo Largo del Sur, since it has a greater draft than what is allowed
While many comments thank Rodríguez Dávila for his analysis – his interaction on Facebook has given him a popularity that his colleagues in the Council of Ministers lack – others were critical of the isolation of the Isla de la Juventud. “Today we live with the fear of climate change and breakdowns, of ’I believe’ and ’I hope’, and that’s without counting the outrageous loss of quality in care for the traveler. Efforts to solve the situation do not appear to be coming in the near future,” commented Oscar Arteaga.
“We are also human beings, and, unfortunately, geography did not help us, and the Government never did anything to construct a road, as was done in the Cayería Norte,” commented Damaris Ramos.
For many others, the solution to get out of the crisis is obvious: let several “private or foreign companies” take care of creating a route that, traditionally, has had trouble operating .
Translated by Regina Anavy
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