The problem is due, among other reasons, to the fact that only 13 of the 25 asphalt plants are functioning
14ymedio, Havana, July 27, 2024 –In Cuba there are “quality problems in road repairs, and a lack of discipline and organization in interventions.” The euphemisms to disguise the unfortunate state of Cuban roads – and the neglect of the technicians -, analyzed this Thursday by the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, was accompanied by alarming numbers: Of the 1,109,298 square meters of road affected by potholes, only 247,359 have been repaired. The data is just the tip of the iceberg in a triumphalist report – although detailed – of the situation, which promises a second part. Along with the usual complaints about the U.S. embargo and the fuel shortage, Rodríguez Dávila also implies that the State lacks money to carry out the planned repairs.
Of the 127 kilometers of provincial and municipal roads that they had planned to repair in the first half of the year, they have only completed 69. The numbers are “far below real needs,” Rodríguez Dávila explained, resorting to a new euphemism.
The minister admitted that there is not enough budget on the Island for the purchase of specialized equipment
The minister admitted that there is not enough budget on the Island for the purchase of specialized equipment, or for the indispensable spare parts. In addition, he complained about the “instability” both in the allocation and the availability of physical fuel, to start the machinery and solve logistical needs.
The origin of the problem is that of the 25 hot and cold asphalt concrete plants that operate in Cuba, there are 12 “paralyzed by breaks.” The result is damaged roads, which only received 10% of the hot concrete they need and 14% of the cold.
According to Rodríguez Dávila, even the prioritized repair plans fell through: only 8.3% of the roads that lead to the Island’s airports – and which are essential routes for the transport of tourists – were repaired with the asphalt mixture. The same failures are verified on the National Highway (whose repair is at 15%), the Central Highway (11%), the one that leads to the Special Economic Development Zone of Mariel (10.3%) and the one that leads to the Cayería Norte (18%).
The repair of bridges, many of them about to collapse, remained at 21%. Other roads, especially at the provincial and municipal levels, suffer “significant delays.”
The repair of bridges, many of them about to collapse, stayed at 21%
Rodríguez Dávila could only be proud of the “maintenance and repair of the tunnels of the capital,” in particular the tunnel of the Bay of Habana, and promised that soon those of Línea and 5th Avenue will be repaired.
The urgency is now to seek “better financial support” from the Government and to obtain “fuel and materials,” he said. He explained that many repairs now depend on provincial governments, which lack “completion of the number of positions”: a third euphemism that points out the lack of local leaders, a phenomenon that with the immigration stampede and the emergence of MSMEs, has become recurrent.
Active on social networks and on Cuban Television, Rodríguez Dávila’s face has become one of the most recognized in the Council of Ministers. His Facebook profile covers the ministry’s operations on a daily basis, in particular the development of one of its initiatives: a kind of “revolution of electric tricycles,” with which, he explains, he plans to alleviate the situation of urban public transport. The Achilles heel of the plan are the blackouts, which give no respite to state or private carriers.
Santiago de Cuba, a province that had not joined the tricycle fever, received its first ten this Saturday, which were paraded on July 26 before the first secretary of the Party, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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