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Transit
Officials Forced To Patrol On
Foot
A report in the Spanish daily
newspaper La Nación says that
the Policía de Tránsito patrol
the nation's highways on foot,
since six out of every ten
patrol cars are in the shop with
some problem or other.
The situation is worse in rural
areas, where some Tránsito
officials are forced to hitch a
ride or take the bus to get to
the scene of an accident.
The problem stems from the
failure of the Ministerio de
Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
to budget for vehicle repairs
for 2006.
And, in addition, the Policía de
Tránsito has sufferes a 66%
cutback on the gasoline
available for each patrol car,
tow trucks operated by the MOPT
and motorcycles.
The report by Vanessa Loaiza
says that on many occasions
Tránsito officials have not been
able to patrol dangerous
portions of highways for lack of
equipment or there just isn't
any gasoline to go out today,
having used up the monthly quota
early.
Germán Marín, sub-director of
Tránsito, admits that the
situation is "critical" and that
many vehicles are in need of
repair while some are just
"junk" and need to be replaced.
The Policía de Tránsito has 352
vehicles, 140 motorcycles, 117
patrol cars, 70 pickups and 40
tow trucks in its feelt. Of
those, 211 are damaged. Most of
the vehicles used by Tránsito
are four door sedans and six
years old or more, that have all
sorts of damages, like faulty
gasoline tanks, bad brakes and
tires that need to be replaced.
Most of the "parked" vehicles
will not pass the Riteve - the
annual vehicular inspection.
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