CERTIFIED MAIL Shortages and also indiscipline By Jose Alejandro Rodriguez A CubaNews translation by Will Reissner. The considerable shortages in transportation, especially between towns and localities that traditionally had special connections, are made even worse because of subjective problems of indiscipline and disorganization. Sometimes the vehicle appears, seemingly solving the problem, and not even that... We get some of that in a letter from Maricela Martinez, a resident of Number 6, Sixth Avenue North, between East Fifth and Seventh, Quemado de Guines, Villa Clara province: She begins her letter by stating that reading the Certified Mail column helps her to “battle despair.” And she mentions that lately she has frequently traveled to the city of Santa Clara, 72 kilometers from her home. She states that today Quemado does not have any means of transportation for that purpose, in contrast to the most critical days of the special period, when at least they had the famous “camels” [camello, famous Cuban bus] that alleviated so many emergencies. As an alternative, the province has resorted to TRANSCENTRO to facilitate the possible service. “And everything would be just fine,” she says, “were it not for the lack of seriousness and discipline with which the assigned drivers have approached this responsibility.” And she gives an example: “Until the last minute, some three hours before, the Municipal Bus Terminal cannot assure the passengers that they are going to send a bus. Why? Well, simply because if the drivers don’t feel like it, they don’t make the trip: maybe because they claim that there is no adequate lodging for them to spend the night when they have to travel the next morning; or because of the poor quality of the food…and there is a long list of etceteras. This doesn’t count the two occasions when they have sold tickets, and at the last minute it turns out the bus is broken and leaves without passengers.” Marciela is not asking for magic solutions to the difficult situation in transportation, only “that they act with responsibility and respect for the citizenry.” A park that is forbidding Judith Pantoja is one of those Havana residents who has the good fortune to live around the capital’s landmark Maceo Park, a kind of breathing lung in the middle of noisy and congested Central Havana. The reader, who lives at Marina 51, between Jovellar and Hornos, sings the praises of the transformative repairs carried out more than three years ago by the Office of the City Historian, which returned that park to splendor and has brought it back from so much vandalism and destruction. Nevertheless, she and other neighbors disagree with the measures and prohibitions that have been imposed regarding the park. They have raised concerns in the report-back delegate assemblies and have not received replies. Although Judith sees parks as recreational sites, Maceo Park “changed its societal objective, and at this time recreation is inaccessible. When you visit it, you come upon a sign at the entrance that more or less says, among other prohibitions: “Entry with balls, entry with animals, entry with inappropriate clothing, and bicycle riding are prohibited.” She points out that the park is in a densely populated zone, where most of the buildings lack patios and areas where children and adults can enjoy outdoor recreation. “This is not to mention the hours,” she asserts. “I would like them to tell us: why do you go to a park? If you enter during daytime hours just to sit: where can you do that? Because during the hours when it is open the sun is brutal. And if you want to go at night, when a worker could do so, it is closed.” Judith feels that these arrangements are forcing children, who need to be able to play, to do so at the bus stop in front of the park, in the streets and sidewalks, risking their lives and bothering people in those places. And then the elderly, who want to get some fresh air and talk, take up the benches at the stop, which are supposed to be for those waiting for a bus. Many neighbors who have grown up and lived for years in this zone have fond memories of Maceo Park, says Judith, who fears that with all these measures, and without guidelines combining dedication to preservation with recreational goals, there will be generations that will not enjoy this pleasant association regarding the park. http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/acuse-de-recibo/2008-11-28/carencias-y-tambien-indisciplinas/ |
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