The national transport company of Ciego de Ávila was far from fulfilling its 2022 plans and left at least 84,313 passengers without traveling. Among the reasons is the lack of buses, since of the 17 that the company owns, only eight work and sometimes they don’t even arrive. The inability to get batteries, tires, glass and other spare parts wrecked last year’s data, although it is confusing to determine its size.
In a note published this Tuesday by the official newspaper of the province, Invader, It is said in general terms that last year’s plan was to transport “more than 230,000”, although later Inaudis Figuera Ferrer, head of the operations group, indicated that “of 180,912 passengers by 2022, 84,313 were missing when completing the statistics on year”, which adds up to a projection of 265,225.
In any case, for 2023 the forecast has been rationalized, estimated this year at 155,681 passengers, data that the official newspaper considers “not so pretentious”. (sic).
The company not only did not make a profit due to the large number of passengers it left unable to move, but its losses were relatively high, reaching 504,000 pesos. According to the group’s head of accounting, María Caridad Águila Cuéllar, the increase in the cost of parts and pieces is the cause, since a tire costs approximately 7,000 pesos.
The deficit, however, improves compared to the previous year, when the pandemic paralyzed transportation and the company lost around three million pesos. Compared to profits of more than five million five years ago, according to Invader, The data is catastrophic and to try to raise it, some measures summarized by Águila Cuéllar were taken, including leasing premises and three buses to the private sector, despite the scarce availability of vehicles.
Since June 2022, the interprovincial service has been subsidized with 0.05 cents per kilometer, which increased income – or reduced losses, in this case – by 180,000 pesos per month
The official added that since June 2022 the interprovincial service has been subsidized with 0.05 cents per kilometer, which increased income – or reduced losses, in this case – by 180,000 pesos per month. In addition, in October the rate rose from 6.96 to 13.96 pesos. Based on these calculations, the company calculates to end the year with profits of 1,149,000 pesos.
The only objective achieved is that of interurban passenger transport, since it was expected to transfer 54,070 and 101,206 traveled, despite the fact that the routes were reduced by four since 2019, when the routes to Niquero, Camagüey, Cienfuegos and Havana disappeared in his schedule of 1:30. Consequently, the number of drivers was also reduced, but the head of Human Resources admits that there should be 24 and 22 are hired.
The note leaves a piece of information that the company considers positive, and that is that there was no shortage of fuel, since it received more than what was required, which was 410 tons. For this year, indicated the energy specialist, it is estimated that 390 tons will be needed.
The data abounds in the provincial transport crisis that the same newspaper Invader made it known three weeks ago. According to the statistics of the Provincial Transport Company of Ciego de Ávila, 7,700,000 passengers traveled, barely a third of the planned plan (21,937,000). In this case, of the 236 buses owned by the company, only 90 are in good condition.
The critical situation in Ciego de Ávila, a province located in the center of the Island, affects mobility beyond the borders of its territory. Many travelers from other regions of the central west use the buses that arrive from the Ciego de Avila terminals to travel to the Cuban capital or other western municipalities, so the drop in the number of routes that depart from the province affects them by forcing them to resort to the private transport.
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