Matanzas/The time at which the gas truck came. Before the sun came out, Aimé and his son quickly lowered their Balite of liquefied gas from the 11th floor of the building where they live, hoping to reach their turn in the tank of High Peñas. Three months ago the population did not receive the fuel, and the families had had to resort to improvised strategies, such as cooking at dawn taking advantage of the electric rotation or using coal, with the disadvantages for the health and taste of food. Finally, this week the gas returned, but tranquility lasted little.
“This situation is terrible in which we live,” Aimé laments, retired from Matanzas, in conversation with 14ymedio. “One day someone we all know what was called decided that everything should be electric and see how we are,” he recalls about the effort of 20 years ago of Fidel Castro in what he called then Energy Revolution. “And another day he said that there would be gas without problems for the population, and a couple of years later there is no gas, despite the fact that the Chinese and other companies exploit oil and gas to a few kilometers from here.”
The fuel search has become a ordeal. The Ticket digital applicationwhich orders the sale of gas and fuel, “it has not stopped sending me warnings that it is already available, but one thing is the app And another is what happens on the field, ”explains Aimé.” A CUPET worker told me that in June, when gas shipping stopped, there was, but they took it to other provinces and we left us lying, until today. ”
Aimé had to stay three hours before the truck made its entrance
The Center for Collection and Deposit of Peñas Altas became the scene of long waits. Aimé had to stay three hours before the truck made its entrance. Next to her, about two hundreds of people awaited their turn, including about fifty included in the “prevented” tail, designed for those who present physical difficulties or special conditions.
Among the most difficult cases is Norelis, a neighbor of one of the buildings near the deposit, whose mother of more than 80 years is headed after a hip fracture. “I’ve been cooking in the hall of the building with coal since April. The neighbors sometimes feel to see me cook in the Masterchef style,” he says with irony and tiredness.
“No one who is not in my situation can calculate how frustrating it is to have a sick relative these days. Now look: there are only ten bottles for special cases, and I spent two months running behind public health and their commissions because they are the ones who give approval to receive gas in this way. I appear on the list, but I do not enter between ten, so I lost the day here. The neighbors will continue to enjoy Masterchef in the hall ”.
There are two mechanisms to serve vulnerable people: one for special cases supervised by social workers, and another for bedridden, under public health regulation. “In theory it is fine, but here we all know each other and we know that the easiest thing is to make a gift to the list. Automatically your name becomes the first, whether here in the delivery center or with the social worker,” confesses a neighbor, unbelievated before the fragile legality of the processes and the discretion with which the lists are handled.
Although local authority announces that there will be a weekly supply, uncertainty is constant
The cast in the tank is limited. This day, 150 bullets were discharged plus the 10 for special cases. Andrés, a retired one who until recently earned an extra pesos doing mandadero, was in line with the number 2,545, while the cast advanced just up to 2,190. “At this step, the gas has to come three times to touch what corresponds to me. I fear that there will be problems before my turn arrives, meanwhile I will have to manage them with the help of my children or do some work taking gas to neighbors to contact me,” he says.
Although the local authority announces that there will be a weekly supply, uncertainty is constant. The neighbors know that the situation changes from one day to another and, almost always, for worse. Maybe on Saturday or next Monday they manage to supply the area; Maybe the show Norelis coal kitchen ends early; Maybe Andrés find another way to advance his turn. However, nor who handle the lists can confirm it with certainty.
Meanwhile, the Matanzas neighborhood is still trapped in an endless wait, in which each gas truck becomes an event and each balite available, in a treasure. The combination of unfulfilled promises, unreliable digital applications and local favoritism leaves many residents in a vulnerability situation that, for some, extends for months.
