Culebra Ferry Protest - Take II

 

Yesterday morning, a quickly planned protest was held at the ferry dock to demand decent servcie to Culebra (and thereby Vieques as well). The situation, which has been ongoing and declining since last year's protest, kept both ferries on Culebra for 7 hours. The following is a google translation of various news media coverage, with an English language link to this one from last night from ABC News (pretty much filled with bad information as to the what's and why's but there you go!). If you want to see more, there are also news clip videos, etc.

At a couple of policemen's encouragement, I jumped the chain (I've just always wanted to say that, there was nobody trying to stop me!)

This is where people started jumping in the water or coming in by boat to block the passenger ferry from leaving (there is video on that  see above link)

As you can see, there were a few more than 13 people there...

This is the ATM official, who reminds me of a Dubon brother (I have no idea if there is any family connection, it's probably more of the moment. Same expression while saying what are hopefully soothing platitudes, perhaps?)

The gist of what happened is this. Some of our community leaders (and I don't mean official leaders) spoke at length with the official from the ATM, the governmental branch that deals with maritime issues. They promised it would be fixed. Pretty much exactly what happened last year except this year four ferries are broken and the problem is worse. The dock is still not completed. The best video I have is, unsurprisingly, from Mary Ann of Coralations, filmed by Jorgito Rivera, with more links to other video. The latest this morning was sent via Jill Buckingham that Culebrense were not being allowed on the ferry...that was an hour ago. So, obviously, this is an on going tragicomedy. We can only fight and hope for the best, but like so many situations in the world, money talks, the rest walk. Cynical? Slightly. Optimistic pessimist? Absolutely. As a long time visitor and reader of my blog emailed to me "I guess the gist is that the government is letting the service fall apart so that people will tolerate privatization?  This guy Fortuno has a future in the Tea Party."  Yes, I forgot to mention the push for privatization...are we desperate enough now? I'm sure the bidding will be quite interesting..

 

(remember, these are from Google Translate)

Maritime Transportation Authority (MTA) today achieved through an agreement, ending a protest by residents of Culebra, who since morning had paralyzed the boat trips Vieques II and Interisland ferry cargo.
The agreement guarantees the passengers of the island municipality regularly scheduled trips to incorporate the Princess ship, while the Interisland ferry cargo will travel alternative to Vieques and Culebra.
"We set that day at 6:00 in the morning a boat will come out of Culebra and Vieques one, bound to Fajardo. We will incorporate the Princess passenger boat with a capacity of 149 passengers, travel Culebra, "the executive director of the ATM, Ferdinand Cedeno.
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Culebra (CyberNews) - The executive director of the Maritime Transportation Authority (MTA), Ferdinand Cedeno, said Friday that he agreed with the residents of Culebra, to regularize the service of boats between the port of Fajardo and the island municipality .
Through a press release, the owner of the ATM was announced that Princess vessel built to ensure the transportation of passengers on its regular schedule.
Princess trips will be supplemented by Interisland cargo ship, which alternately made trips to Vieques and Culebra.
"We established that daily at 6:00 am going to get a boat from Culebra and Vieques one, bound to Fajardo. We will incorporate the Princess passenger boat with a capacity of 149 passengers to travel to Culebra" Cedeño said.
Following the announcement, the official expects to end the protests by residents of Culebra, who since the early hours of Friday morning, paralyzed travel in the passenger boat Vieques II and Interisland ferry cargo.
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Culebra - A dozen people protested on Friday morning in front of the boat terminal of the island municipality of Culebra against the Maritime Transport Authority (ATM).
Police reported at about 6:30 in the morning, about 13 people crowded in front of the terminal, led by the "Ladies Civic Culebra", directed by Wanda Osorio.
The demonstrators denounced abuses and demanded a better service to the community Culebra, by the Maritime Transportation Authority.
Police said the demonstration passed in an orderly fashion and there has been no incident.

Conclusion? It's not over yet, by a long shot. The shoddy maintenance of the ferries, one at least that I know of that is brand new and went out of service due to water being put into the fuel tanks by mistake, others run aground repeatedly, is not an easy fix. The lack of concern by the mainland government, along with our own crippled Culebra government - our mayor has serious cancer yet no one has replaced him, therefore nothing happens on the official level - has made this deteriorate, the resulting loss of business, these are issues far reaching and not simple to bring back to anything resembling normal. 


I don't shun blogging about these things, but I have, quite awhile ago, decided to watch, speak up locally, and wait, while enjoying the many aspects of Culebra that I love, that keep me here. But at the request of readers', here you go! When something real and stable and true happens, I'll let you know.


Have a saturated Saturday. Do something not sardonic.


p.s. for some reason, my connection is incredibly slow right now, so please do check out the links, since if I put them all in, you'd get this about as soon as the above issue is resolved.