“We are going to finish the year without many profits, but without losses, despite the difficult conditions in which we have worked, aggravated by the limitations of the fuel, of which in the last months we have received minimum figures and other shortages, but the company has been sustained,” affirms Luis Enrique Arias Peña, general director of the Provincial Company of Transport of Passengers and General Loads, Cardinal Las Tunas, and advances that they have planned several actions to perfect the entity and its management.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- He made this statement after the ceremony for the 66th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, in which the workers reviewed the performance in the present calendar and traveled to the year 2025, a period for which they project priorities and dreams.
What about passenger transport services?
“We are focused on the sustainability of the services currently provided by 30 buses in the urban area and we aim to keep them running, which also depends on fuel guarantee.”
“The rest of the municipalities are working on the creation of a minimum fleet that will allow us to open and close the open routes in the province: rural, inter-municipal, urban, and suburban, which we intend to continue strengthening when the country's possibilities provide the necessary material conditions.”
How do you plan to achieve these goals at a time when you will continue to face challenges?
“We are designing a more functional business structure with higher levels of information automation, which will allow us to reduce overheads. In addition, we plan to create commercial centers, where we will sell parts and spare parts resulting from authorized dismantling in the country and others acquired in alliances with new economic actors, taking advantage of the opportunity provided by Resolution 56, which authorizes us to sell wholesale.”
“Revive the workshops where we provide technical services to cars, both private and state-owned, and seek resources and other insurance to rescue traditional services.”
And the technical force?
“We hope that the materialization of this strategy will lead to a better economic and financial situation and, in turn, to the implementation of more attractive payment systems and thus attract mechanics and electricians, who have migrated to non-state forms of production and services with better incomes.”
What about the new economic actors?
“We already have experience working with this sector and we will continue to expand it until we diversify our social purpose and achieve more affordable prices, for example with Genesis in the scrubbing of buses, a good quality job that helps us to eliminate expenses in this area and meet the demands of other state entities and the population.”
“We are evaluating, through a partnership with Durkal S.A., the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to change the energy matrix and not depend on the National Energy System. The project has been drawn up and we are only waiting for the budget to be approved. Then we will continue in the urban area, to get ahead of the possibility of having mixed buses (fuel and electricity).”
Transport and Public Health
“We intend to maintain and strengthen the link with Public Health to continue supporting all their services. We are going to guarantee, as we have done up to now, the transportation of the sick according to their referrals from the municipalities to the provincial hospital, and chemotherapy inside and outside the province, such as the trips to Camagüey which never fail from Monday to Friday, and all other activities that require it.”
“We are transforming a bus that was stationary some time ago into an ambulance to facilitate the transport of the sick in better conditions.”
To Jesús Menéndez by train?
“There is a debt with the municipality of Jesús Menéndez because we have not been able to rehabilitate its railbus. We have invested in its repair and are not giving up on getting it out as quickly as possible, but the lack of necessary material resources has not allowed it.”
Transport and rural communities
“Of the 133 routes open in the province we work on average between 30 and 40 daily and when they are alternate, we can reach the total this week. The biggest impacts are in the rural areas due to the deterioration of the roads.”
Luis Enrique Arias Peña and the collective he leads know that 2025 will be another challenging period but they travel to their destination with a commitment to continue implementing alternatives that will help them overcome obstacles to sustain their sensitive services.
