Havana’s shiny new garbage trucks and the same old sanitation workers

HAVANA – Large and gleaming orange vehicles have been seen crisscrossing Havana recently. They are the first 24 modern garbage trucks that have arrived in the city, donated by Japan’s International Cooperation Agency.

Every time one rolls through the neighborhood people stare with mouths agape. The trucks are made by Hino. They are big and silent, and very clean.

After more than three months of picking up waste in Old Havana, Central Havana, Plaza and the many neighborhood of the city, the new garbage trucks still stand out. They are like a brand new toy just recently opened: they shine and dazzle.

And their cockpit… that’s what I call it because it looks almost like a NASA spacecraft. It seems hermetically sealed with windows shut tight. In other words, the driver inside  is bound to suffocate or these trucks come equipped with air conditioning. And as hot as it is here this summer the new trucks almost make you want to dress up, with long sleeves and clean shoes, and ride in one of those orange air-conditioned monsters. Add to that the fact that they keep them spotless… Orders must have come from high above: “Make those truck shine. 24-7.”

I’ve made a point of checking for their cleanliness. And so far, not a speck of dust. Not only do they keep the fuselage clean — as if they were an aerospace device — but if you look closely you’ll note that every hose, pedal, lever, rivet, screw… whatever the part on the truck, it shines. It appears that someone has been charged with keeping them clean.

So in that sense everything is like a dream: attractive and inexpensive new equipment to keep our streets clean. The new trucks are part of the Japanese Non-Reimbursable Financial Assistance Project, which also includes dump trucks, lift baskets, chainsaws and other equipment related to sanitation work.

It is just too bad that the extra care taken with the new garbage trucks does not translate to our sanitation workers. I guess they weren’t imported from Japan. They are just the same old communal workers we’ve always had. These workers, who precariously hang from the back of these trucks and who lug heavy tanks of garbage on their backs, others who operate the trucks, and all dressed (it’s hard to describe). And no one seems to care. They are the visible stain, the dirty and the ugly, on the new shiny garbage trucks.

You see them laboring without gloves — and, when they wear gloves, they are in a state that you’d be better off throwing them away and not using them. Their uniforms dirty and worn out, and without the proper shoes, no security attachments, and without any protection against the varied risks associated with carrying out such necessary work.

Someone up there, high up in one of the ivory towers, forgot or failed to notice that in addition to taking care of the Japanese garbage trucks, it is as important to take care of the Cuban workers with an equal amount of care.