Of the 135 bus routes for passenger transport in the province of Ciego de Ávila, barely two are operating, with minimal frequencies and irregularities, largely due to the aggravated fuel crisis facing the country.

Nevertheless, the passenger transport plan for this year was already quite low (11 million), after failing to meet 75 per cent of the 18 million target in 2025, due to lack of fuel and a low technical availability coefficient, this media outlet previously reported.

Given the current situation, the entity will find it impossible to achieve the objective it set for itself, as the truth is that it has not met the population’s demand for a long time.

The impacts are also notable in the railway sector. The fuel deficit means that all seven train routes are paralysed, after four months in which they were active and well-received in the province, stated the Director of Transport in Ciego de Ávila, Olga Gener Pérez.

The current contingency is likely to generate significant changes in the management of Transport in the territory. Gener Pérez announced that the province will soon use four new electric tricycles, capable of travelling around 120 kilometres with a load of 1.5 tonnes, although freight transport is also suffering enormous damage in the current context.

Regarding the new acquisitions, Gener Pérez said that one combustion-engine hearse would be added, a figure that differs from the five cars for this purpose previously announced by Luis Alberto Pérez Olivares, Director of the Budgeted Unit of Communal Services, in information offered to Avilanian Television.

With the intention of alleviating the difficulties faced by Public Health as a result of this situation, a 14-seater minibus will be added, with the possibility of travelling 300 kilometres, for inter-consultations and other medical services.

Given the accumulated difficulties, the Transport Directorate is trying to prioritise its services related to the aforementioned sector, although complaints about certain alterations or consequences are inevitable.

Among the most affected are those receiving haemodialysis. Residents in the municipalities of Ciego de Ávila and Morón are transported in electric tricycles, with delays in schedules and much less comfort than when they were transported by taxis. Those living in the other eight municipalities have to be admitted to their respective hospitals because there are no guarantees of transport.

Meanwhile, patients from the Marie Curie Provincial Oncology Hospital, in the province of Camagüey, have the possibility of travelling from Monday to Friday. However, the bus for medical shifts to Havana has reduced its frequency to once a week.

For its part, buses are allocated daily to transport doctors from Morón to the Doctor Antonio Luaces Iraola General Teaching Provincial Hospital in Ciego de Ávila, and vice versa, explained the delegate during the regular live broadcast of the Invasor newspaper.

Beyond the purposes that Transport may have, the reality today is more complex for this sector, which was already showing signs of depression on the streets of Ciego de Ávila.