Over the hump? Cubans hope for end to "camel" buses

Over the hump? Cubans hope for end to "camel" buses
By ANTHONY BOADLE - Reuters | Saturday, 3 February 2007

HAVANA: With black humour, Cubans call the uncomfortable 18-wheel trucks
that have been turned into Havana city buses "Saturday night movies"
because of the adult language, sex and violence on board.

But their ride should soon improve as acting President Raul Castro seeks
to tackle the problems that his countrymen complain about most –
including a transport crisis.

Otherwise known as the "camello" or camel for its humped back, the
tractor-trailer omnibus has served as mass urban transport since the
dire days of Cuba's post-Soviet crisis in the 1990s when fuel was scarce
and the country was on its knees.

On a hot tropical day, the iron wagon heading for Havana's suburbs
crammed with 200 people is more like a human oven.

"It's a nightmare. Thieves steal your purses," said Mercedes, a
housewife looking for a ride home with her shopping. Women are sometimes
molested on board, she complained.

But to the relief of Havana commuters, Cuba's communist authorities say
the camello's days are numbered and have begun retiring older vehicles.

Since ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily delegated power to
his brother Raul six months ago, Raul has set about addressing the main
sources of complaints from Cubans: high food prices, crumbling housing
and the lack of transport.

The new focus on issues that affect their daily lives has been welcomed
by Cubans used to listening to marathon speeches by Fidel Castro dealing
more often with Third World poverty and attacks on his nemesis the
United States than problems at home.

Officials have announced plans to buy 400 articulated buses and smaller
urban transit buses from China and Belarus this year to replace the
camellos. These more modern vehicles will be more comfortable and, they
hope, less prone to pickpocketing and other unsavory behavior on board.

At a National Assembly session in December, officials acknowledged that
Cuba's transport system was on the verge of collapse due to wear and
tear and lack of spare parts.

Implementation of a new law aimed at improving labor discipline and
reducing worker absenteeism was postponed in part because Cubans could
not be expected to get to work on time without improved transport.

"If I don't hitchhike, I don't get to work. The only bus comes every two
hours," said Pilar Alvarez, who manages a literary Web site.

ECLECTIC VEHICLES

Cubans stand on the curbside for hours on end waiting for buses or
trying to hitch rides. Transport inspectors equipped with clipboards and
whistles try to wave down state-owned cars and vans to get them to car-pool.

The alternative is to pay for a trip in one of the vintage American cars
from the 1950s – before Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution – that serve as
private jitney cabs.

As many as 60,000 old Plymouths and Dodges, sporty Buicks and fine
Cadillacs that have seen better days still ply Cuban streets, providing
a vital stopgap in public transport.

This living museum of Americana is kept running thanks to the wizardry
of Cuban mechanics who improvise home-made spare parts and use Russian
diesel motors to power the well-kept jalopies.

Since the worst years of Cuba's crisis – euphemistically called the
"special period" – when Soviet subsidies dried up, Cuba has resorted to
hundreds of used buses bought second-hand from Canada and Europe, or
donated by friendly city councils.

The eclectic fleet includes Canadian school buses and European city
buses that still have destination signs up for suburbs of Amsterdam,
Milan or Bilbao.

A Cuban in a hurry and willing to pay more can always take a
"coco-taxi," a three-wheeled scooter under an egg-shaped booth of
fiber-glass. The nifty, bright yellow scooters are expensive and cater
to tourists. Cubans usually ride in cycle rickshaws or horse-pulled
buggies in provincial towns.

In the countryside, old Chevrolet trucks from the 1950s have been
converted into makeshift buses with wooden seats that are privately run.

Travelers can take days to cross Cuba, often standing for long distances
in the open back of heavy Soviet-era trucks.

But inter-city travel has improved greatly with the arrival of hundreds
of new Chinese buses, equipped with air conditioning, television screens
and good suspension.

The vehicles made by China's Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co. Ltd. began
arriving a year ago, paid for with soft credits extended by Cuba's
communist ally.

For shorter journeys, Cuban commuters fed up with long delays are
looking forward to new city buses to replace the "camel."

"I'm a plastic surgeon and here I am hitching a ride," said Juan
Antonio, who earns $30 a month and cannot afford a car, a private
purchase that requires high level government approval. "This will
improve one day."

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