HAVANA, February 16 (Luis Viño Zimerman) - The drivers of State-owned
buses and taxis buy repair parts in the black market so they can keep their
vehicles running and their pay checks coming, according to a number of the
drivers who agreed to talk for publication as long as their names weren’t
used.
"If we don’t buy the parts, we cannot work. We know it’s
illegal, because we are getting the parts in the black market, but otherwise we
would not get a penny in salary because the government-run] company does not
guarantee our pay while the vehicle is down," said one driver.
Another one said, speaking softly, "It’s incredible that we should
have to do this, but
my family has to eat. I hadn’t worked in two months because the engine
in my vehicle needed a part worth 5 pesos. Yet, to solve the problem, I had to
pay 10 dollars."
"I didn’t have lug nuts for the wheels of the taxi, and I got them
in the black market after three months out of work," said another driver.
A man with decades of service in the transport field said, "It’s
the only way we can solve the problems that come up in the vehicles. If we wait
for the [transport company] administrators, we’ll starve."
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