There are potholes that look like swimming pools, others where animals drink water after the rain and some that have sent several unwary motorcyclists to the hospital. The holes that “adorn” the streets of Sancti Spíritus multiply and deepen, especially since the closure of the city’s asphalt plant.
The industry, located in the Chambelón neighborhood, is equipped with old machinery, model DK-117 Ukrainian-made, who arrived on the Island during the years of the Soviet subsidy. Over the years, deterioration and a shortage of parts have taken their toll on the asphalt plant, but the final blow has been given by the lack of raw materials and fuel.
“Since April of last year, production began to decrease because we did not have materials for the process, although only a few days ago, at the beginning of this year, it was announced that it was going to stop producing,” he tells 14ymedio one of the employees who, after the closure of the factory, has become an “interrupted worker”, the official euphemism for the unemployed.
“We are a total of 167 workers who have been left on the street and although now they are paying us a percentage of our salary, that is only for a few months,” he details. “This plant worked because we ourselves have repaired the parts, some of which were already hopeless due to wear, but we cannot invent the raw material, if it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist.”
“This plant worked because we ourselves have repaired the parts, some of which were already hopeless due to wear, but we cannot invent the raw material”
The lack of aggregates and fuel forced the stoppage of the Spiritus industry and has meant a severe blow to the programs to pave streets and highways in the province. José Luis, 58, the driver of a vehicle that transports agricultural products between the Banao area and the capital of Espiritu, sums it up painfully: “The trucks are destroying us, no matter how much we manage to invest in maintenance, with these holes there are no who can”.
“The highway to Trinidad, which is an important road because it has a lot of traffic and also goes to a tourist hub, is in a terrible state,” José Luis explained to this newspaper. “In the absence of asphalt, what they are doing is putting gravel in the potholes, then they add a bit of tar but that does not solve the problem. With the heat the mixture softens and the cars carry the stones stuck to the wheels “.
Last April, Concepción González Castañeda, an investor in the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, explained to the official press that road repair work had been limited not only due to lack of resources but also due to lack of financing. to cover the payments of some employees who work under the sun, exposed to the intense heat and bad smells of the asphalt mixtures and, many times, far from their places of residence.
Orestes, the driver of an old Chevrolet that before the pandemic was dedicated to transporting tourists, believes that “the problem of the roads has been neglected.” This driver, who now mainly moves national clients, explains that “you have to travel at very low speeds, what can be done in less than an hour can take up to two with all these potholes.” The self-employed also relates the poor condition of the roads to part of the traffic accidents that occur in the province.
“You have to travel at very low speeds, what can be done in less than an hour can take up to two with all these potholes”
However, the local authorities insist that the 314 accidents, with 19 deaths and 267 injuries that occurred in Sancti Spíritus throughout 2022 were mostly concentrated “in sections of straight lines and intersections on highways, with roads in good technical condition. and total signaling coverage”, an affirmation that contrasts with the opinion of the drivers and with the figures of road deterioration that have been made public in recent months.
Recently, Arlet Castro Ramírez, Director of Roads in Sancti Spíritus, assured the local newspaper Escambray that in the province 767 kilometers of highways and streets of cities and towns are in poor technical condition. The official acknowledged that in the past year, due to energy problems and the scarce availability of fuel, only 5.6% of the road and street repair plan could be executed.
This year, although there is an “approved budget and resources to eradicate the more than 70 speed bumps and potholes on the highway that connects Sancti Spíritus with the city of Trinidad and other important roads of national interest,” it remains to be seen if it will be The raw material is available to restart the industry located in the main municipality.
Just to complete the projected, 10,000 tons of hot asphalt are needed for the section of the National Highway and 3,000 tons for the Central Highway, the two most important roads in the country because they link the eastern zone with the west. For urban and rural roads of local interest, another 15,500 tons of hot mix asphalt will be needed.
But as long as the Chambelón neighborhood plant remains silent, most of those plans will remain on paper and will not materialize on those potholed roads that are now the main concern of drivers and the mortal danger of motorcyclists.
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