Unfortunately we have been suffering from a lack of fuel for some time now. This translates to a larger scale in deficiencies and difficulties of different kinds. Such problems go through energy contingencies in the residential sector –the so-called blackouts–, deficiencies in the loads of the basic basket and the non-delivery of postal packages and mail on time, decreases in personal automotive efforts, among many other edges.
However, within the most pressing problems of this crisis in the entry of hydrocarbons into the country, is the massive transportation of passengers to the different locations.
And it is that the average Cuban is a traveler by nature. Whether it’s for work, family, business or pleasure, we practically live on the road. And for not a few, this is equivalent to the imposition of “taking a bottle” or waiting patiently at alternative transportation points suitable for such purposes.
Much has been said about the subject, but unfortunately we will continue delving into the sore to the point of exhaustion, or until an effective, attractive and liberating solution is found for those who suffer the terrible fate of waiting for the “charity” of third parties every day.
Of course, this situation is not alien to the country, which is why state routes, destinations and means of transportation are prioritized and protected so that everyone can arrive as early as possible to their home or office.
However, the above actions are still insufficient. Keep in mind that it is in these summer months, and therefore family reunions, when the need to move to other confines prevails.
But to what concerns us. The issue of hydrocarbons shows today much more the need for the aforementioned alternative transportation points to play a better and more active role in daily life.
Our weekly has denounced in several of its editions the terrible regrets of the long waits, the innumerable indolence and the “accommodation” of the managers of these points, because sometimes it seems that they are only there to comply.
It would then be necessary to stop and analyze two important trends, and I would say that they are unique in this convoluted skein of transportation: the role of the “yellows”, “blues” or whatever you want to call them, and the indolence and impunity of those who do not stop at the signal, despite the fact that at least out of conscience they should.
Alternative transportation today is more than ever a pending issue. And with reference to the former, it hurts to sometimes see how the lack of tenacity, capacity and respect for the traveler become mere plasticity, accommodation and practicality. All this ruining an uncomfortable population that waits standing, attentive and anxious.
I could assure that more than 60 percent of the time, when faced with the claim of those who observe the cars continue to travel with impunity without stopping, the manager usually mumbles ambiguous reasons about his work and his empirical knowledge about whether or not it was feasible to stop those vehicles.
“Those never stop”, perhaps he would refer to small state cars while he rests from his exhausting work between one private truck and another. “This is the only thing today, gentleman, today is bad.”
But, as I say one thing, I also say the other, because you have to be objective and critical… control actions and signaling would be of no use if state or private drivers ignore and circumvent said passenger boarding sites.
This second –and more important point– is not even due to a lack of messages of public good, or of meetings or analysis on the subject. No. It is only due to lack of conscience and indolence.
Let us remember that efficiency in alternative transportation requires the support of administrations, which have not only a moral but also a legislative obligation to reprimand drivers who commit violations and who threaten the proper flow of people from one region to another.
It is unfortunate to see how despite the repeated complaints made by transport workers and the travelers themselves to the entities that have drivers involved in this indiscipline, that there is still a lack of control and demand on the part of the managers.
That is why I ask myself: in the face of this situation of national shortage of hydrocarbons, should reprimands take precedence over solidarity?
Let us think that when we help our neighbor, our fellow human beings in such transfers, we not only help a person: we help a mother to arrive on time for her children’s food, we help a father to provide for his family, we help a brother to arrive on time for a visit and lunch for someone who is lying in a hospital bed… more than that, we are helping Cuba.
