Cuba’s Police on Alert for “Rolling Bombs”

By Café Fuerte

HAVANA TIMES — Cuban police are cracking down on vehicle owners who have illegally changed their fuel source to gas canisters, as the adaptation makes them “rolling bombs,” the official newspaper Granma reported on Tuesday.

“It is imperative to avoid at all costs any of these moving bombs from exploding,” demanded Granma.

Last year the police detected 124 vehicles circulating with gas canisters as their fuel source, according to Lt. Col. Roberto Rodriguez Fernandez, deputy chief of the National Directorate of Traffic. In 2011 that figure was 57.

Most cases are located in Havana, especially in the municipalities of Boyeros, 10 de Octubre, Habana Vieja and Centro Habana, but have also been detected in Mayabeque, Artemisa and Pinar del Rio. The 1940’s and 50’s cars which are used as private taxis are often the vehicles adapted for that purpose [as a way of saving money on fuel costs].

Violators receive fines and accumulate points on their driving record, according to the Cuban highway code.

“The weight of the law should prevent the unfortunate consequences that can cause a traffic accident where one of these devices explode, or prevent the occurrence of an explosion due to a gas leak that comes into contact with a short circuit” Granma said.