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The Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, announced the launch of a new state-owned company aimed at ensuring mobility for the healthcare sector, amid the severe crisis that has virtually paralyzed public transport in Cuba due to fuel shortages.
The minister that this Monday TRANSMED began operations, a company established “to facilitate the mobility of the health sector,” as a result of collaboration between the ministries of Public Health, Transportation, and provincial authorities.
Rodríguez Dávila acknowledged that the country faces "serious limitations with public transportation in general, intensified by the lack of fuel." In this context, he justified that "prioritizing the health sector has a special meaning due to its impact on the lives of the people."
The company will transport healthcare personnel on pre-established routes connecting hospitals in Havana. It will also take on other passenger and cargo transportation services related to the health system and will support "the transfers of patients undergoing special treatments."
TRANSMED starts with 25 combustion buses, each capable of carrying 28 passengers, and nine electric microbuses with 13 seats.
Rodríguez Dávila acknowledged that the project “will not initially meet the demand of this important sector” and that it has “partially, the vulnerability of fuel supply.”
On positioning and return-to-base routes, buses will be able to pick up passengers for 20 Cuban pesos (CUP) per person, a subsidized price that will be covered, in the case of the main service, by the Health budget of the Government of Havana.
The total investment exceeds five million dollars, financed by the Fund for the Development of Public Transportation managed by the Ministry of Transport.
In addition, 15 minibuses and 34 electric vans will be delivered to other provinces, operated by provincial companies. The government assures that charging stations with solar panels are being installed to avoid being "an additional burden on the national energy system."
The announcement comes at a time when thousands of Cubans are facing long waits, canceled routes, and a lack of fuel in almost all state services.
Transportation for the population continues to be severely affected. In this case, the government chooses to redirect resources towards a strategic sector, while acknowledging that the new company will rely on an unstable fuel supply.
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