Venezuela’s infrastructure

ENSURING that the engines stay properly attached to the fuselage is, one might think, a fairly fundamental part of maintaining a passenger aircraft. So when a DC-9 belonging to Aeropostal, a state-owned Venezuelan airline, lost both of them upon landing last week in Puerto Ordaz, the sight was alarming, even though fortunately the injuries to passengers were slight. That alarm has since turned to something more akin to panic, after a rapid succession of airline emergencies in just a few days underlined the deplorable state of the national fleet—reportedly the most obsolete in the entire region.

In all, there were 33 aviation “incidents” during September, and independent sources say the rate is up by a tenth this year so far, compared with 2010. Airports are in no better shape, with frequent complaints of faulty radar, missing landing lights and cracked runways. But the deterioration of Venezuela’s transport infrastructure is by no means confined to the air. Just three days after the Puerto Ordaz near-disaster, three Caracas commuter trains collided, killing the driver of one of them and injuring dozens of passengers. Two days earlier, traffic heading into the country’s second city, Maracaibo, was held up for hours after a metal joint between two sections of the 9km (5-mile) long bridge over Lake Maracaibo fell into the waters below.

Venezuela’s roads, in fact, are in such bad shape that a whole new category of pothole—the “mega-hole”—has begun to feature in news reports. Earlier this year one opened up on the main motorway entering Caracas from the west. Drivers had to endure days of lengthy queues while it was filled in. On September 27th a “mega-hole” in one of the capital’s other feeder routes, the Pan-American highway, claimed the life of a driver whose car plunged into it around midnight. Its dimensions rivaled those of an Olympic swimming pool.

Then there are the ferries that link the Venezuelan mainland with the offshore island of Margarita, the country’s most popular tourist destination. Delays, cancellations and generally abysmal service on the part of the monopoly private operator, Conferry, were cited by the government as the reasons for its decision, announced on September 26th, to nationalise the company. “That’s enough!,” said Hugo Chávez, the president. “Conferry is a disaster!” He made no mention of the government’s own failure to apply regulatory correctives.

Mr Chávez’s penchant for nationalisation as a presumed panacea for the evils of the private sector is seen by many specialists as part of the problem, rather than the solution. After opposition candidates were elected to many state governorships in 2008, the president re-centralised many public services, taking them out of the hands of the states. These included roads, ports and airports, all of which have experienced accelerated deterioration ever since. Another problem is that foreign exchange controls cause lengthy delays in acquiring spare parts for aircraft and other machinery.

The Caracas metro, which was already run by the central government, used to be regarded as a model of efficiency. Even the passengers, accustomed to the chaos of the streets above, were well-behaved below ground. But in the last decade, poor maintenance has led to breakdowns, overcrowding and lengthy delays. As with the suburban line on which last week’s crash occurred, drivers complain that safety systems are not fully operational.

After the crash, the government promised a full inquiry, and corrective action where required. But the country is still awaiting the outcome of an inquiry into the crash a year ago of a plane belonging to another state airline, Conviasa, that killed 17 people. Independent reports suggest the airline failed to implement the aircraft manufacturer’s instructions to replace a faulty part. Venezuelans, understandably, increasingly prefer to stay at home.