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HAVANA, May 1 (José Antonio Fornaris, Cuba-Verdad / www.cubanet.org)
- More than 40 passengers at the Santa Amalia bus depot in Arroyo Naranjo,
Havana, demanded that a bus be assigned to cover route 488 after a wait of four
hours.
Officials had told those waiting that no buses had left the depot because
there was no fuel for them to cover their route.
"The fuel we have we are using for more complex routes," said one
of the officials.
In order to solve the problem, officials ordered that some fuel be extracted
from each of the other buses in the yard to fuel one to cover route 488.
Frequent riders said that lately there has only been one bus assigned to
route 488. This route takes the bus across most of Arroyo Naranjo municipality.
Police Persecute Private Transport
HAVANA, May 1 (Claudia Márquez Linares, Grupo Decoro /
www.cubanet.org) - The National Revolutionary Police routinely carries out
surprise raids directed against entrepreneurs who seek to make a buck by
providing transportation in private cars to and from the Havana Bus Terminal.
Typically, drivers, who own their cars, will cruise outside the terminal,
while their confederates mingle inside the station, questioning prospective
passengers. Often they are pensioners trying to supplement their 100-peso
monthly pensions. The scarcity of bus service guarantees them an abundance of
fares.
Police, however, have other ideas. A driver who was taken to the nearby
police station, said, "Police threaten to confiscate our cars if we
continue picking up passengers at the bus terminal, but when we ask for a
license to operate legally, they say these permits are no longer being granted."
The licenses cost 450 pesos. Both the drivers and their associates say the
government doesn’t grant licenses to legalize the service they offer to
people who cannot travel to their intended destinations because there are no
buses leaving due to a lack of equipment.
Versión
original en español
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