havana/With promises from Cuban officials “they will not stop efforts” to address the problem, Cuban Transport Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila said. reported Last Wednesday, in the first half of 2024, the National Bus Company carried 727,680 fewer passengers in Cuba than in the same period last year.
The official, very active on his Facebook profile, explained in a mail that, between January and June, 3,168,860 passengers used this mode of transport, compared to 3,896,540 in 2023.
This year’s figures in the region show a significant decline, according to Rodríguez Dávila. Regarding the trips made, 59,560 were made, compared to 85,180 in the same period of 2023. However, he clarified that the reduction is based on the freight service to groups and institutions, “because the transport normal to the population still with similar symptoms,” he assured.
However, the list of damages does not end there. The minister explained that “the quality of the service has been greatly affected by the increase in broken buses on the road and transfers, as well as the decrease in the punctuality rate up to 92%.”
“The increase in broken down buses on the road has had a major impact on the quality of the service”
The official pointed out that “the main breakdowns on the road are related to problems with the clutch system, hydraulic pipes, suspensions, suspension valves, blockages in the feeding system due to low fuel level.”
These problems are the result, he said, of the years of use of the fleet and the “lack of funding to get spare parts in the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024.”
/ OMFi
In another publicationOn August 17, the minister had announced that the “evolution” of passenger transport, from 2017 until now, “shows lower results, basically due to fuel restrictions and the reduction of technical access ( CDT) for untimely acquisition of parts, pieces and assemblies, including tires and batteries”, excuses repeated many times.
Likewise, in his report this past Wednesday he said that although the Covid-19 pandemic is behind us, “many of the paths that existed before have not been recovered.”
“There is no more hotel infrastructure. Let’s not stop spending on that, then what do we do with so many hotels and public transport collapsed?
Although his interaction on Facebook has given him a lot of popularity that his colleagues in the Council of Ministers do not have, many of the comments in his report complained about the lack of funding in transport.
One user, Gabriel López, said: “There is no more hotel infrastructure. Let’s stop that, and what will we do with so many hotels and public transport collapsed.” In another opinion, Armando Lorenzo said “here the truth is presented: lack of funding. That is the reason -everything. A country that does not even produce for its internal demand and has therefore seen its foreign exchange income reduced to zero.” In another message, Obayemi asked Castillo “solution to this problem, because we are already tired of abuse. “We want solutions and not so much justification or meetings.”
