Like every morning, Luis Andrés got on his bicycle to go to the private workshop where he works making bricks, blocks and tiles on the outskirts of Ciego de Ávila. But as soon as he got closer and felt the silence, he knew that something was not right: the electrical transformer that supplies power to the premises broke and he would soon know the dimension of his misfortune, because the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) does not have another of its kind to replace it.
“The oven we work with is electric and is powered by a three-phase transformer that supplies from 110 to 380 volts, a lightning strike damaged it and paralyzed our production. We had several orders made, from people who are building a house but also from others private businesses, but everything stopped,” he tells 14ymedio Luis Andrés, who worked for years in the state sector as an accountant until going to work in the self-employed sector.
The first reaction of the owner of the small Avilanian industry was to report the breakage to the UNE, which took several days to reach the scene. “When they came and saw the effects caused by the lightning, they concluded that they had to change the transformer, but they clarified that the country does not have these three-phase devices and they could only install a conventional, single-phase device,” explains the employee.
“When we insisted and commented that this workshop supplies a good part of the blocks and tiles that people need in these surroundings, they answered us that the State had no responsibility”
“When we insisted and commented that this workshop supplies a good part of the blocks and tiles that people need in these surroundings, then they answered us that since it was a private business, the State had no responsibility. In other words, if later a new transformer to the company, it will not touch us, but a state entity that needs it”.
Seven people work in the small industry, all of them with families that depend heavily on the payment these employees receive. For ten days these private workers have not received a penny, because production has stopped and they have not been able to complete the orders. In addition, customers are also behind in their construction works due to the lack of these materials.
The shortage of transformers of this type is confirmed by the Department of Investments of the Electric Union of Havana, where clients who want to install one should go to use the benefits of three-phase current in their private business. “There are difficulties and we cannot guarantee that the device can be installed in the short or medium term,” he confirms to 14ymedio an employee of this state agency.
“There are few resources right now and what we are doing is advancing the contract for the self-employed who need to install one of these transformers. We do all the paperwork and then the client must keep calling to find out when there is availability. But promise that they will have it fast, we can’t do that”, stresses the UNE worker.
“There are difficulties and we cannot guarantee that it can be installed in the short or medium term”
In Havana, Enmanuel and Lucy have spent months trying to get a contract to have a three-phase transformer to supply their ceramics workshop in La Víbora. “We have gone to the commercial office of the Electric Union in the municipality, spoken with several officials and told of our need to resolve this as soon as possible, but they always respond that there is no availability of this equipment now.”
The couple, who have decided to start a private business in which they mix her knowledge of industrial design and his experience as a potter, never believed that a metal rectangle from which cables come out could be the obstacle that would stop them for so long. . “No one told us that this was going to be a difficulty the size of Pico Turquino,” laments Lucy.
A mutual friend of both has recommended a faster way to solve the problem. The entrepreneur, who runs a turning business, has closed the deal with UNE employees “under the table”. “With 20,000 Cuban pesos, the three-phase transformer appears, the truck to take it, the cables to install it and even the technician who smiles at you after leaving it ready,” the man ironically.
But Emmanuel and Lucy prefer to do everything “legally”. A path that has “all phases down” at the moment.
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