HAVANA, February 26 (Luis Viño Zimerman) - The general state of
decrepitude of sidewalks in Havana is responsible for 8 of every 10 hip
fractures in residents older than 55, say orthopedic surgeons here.
Arm and leg fractures come in second in the number of cases of people who
suffer accidents in the streets.
Andrea Baró Espinosa, a resident of the Luyanó district, was
recently walking along Luco Street at night. She saw the lights of a car coming
and tried to get on the sidewalk, stepped on a crack and fell, breaking her hip.
María Agüero Rojas, 66, and a resident of Marianao, said, "I
was on my way to my brother’s house, in Neptuno and Escobar Streets when I
put my foot in a ditch that someone opened to repair a pipe. The doctor told me
I have a fracture of the tibia."
Rosendo Segura Ponce, 58, from the 10 de Octubre district, was walking along
the sidewalk near Santa Emilia when he tripped, breaking both bones in his right
arm.
Just about every street in the city has stretches where the sidewalk is
either uneven or has holes. In addition, there are many places where manhole
covers are missing. The poor state of street lighting also contributes, as the
highest number of cases are registered at night.
Workers of the water and sewer and gas works say that often they have to
break the sidewalk to make repairs underground and subsequently don’t have
the materials to patch the area.
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