I decided to mouth off one of the most terrible things that could have happened to the city I live in, Santiago, Chile.
A while ago, the sages in power for 16+ years decided to radically change the public transportation system. Seemed something challenging but a good idea nonetheless. However, the incompetence of the authorities has become evident as the implementation phase has done nothing but to create public unrest, riots and even deaths inside the Metro underground system, let alone the dramatic increase in mental illnesses (depression, insomnia) that are affecting every inhabitant of this city but mostly.... who? You got it: the poor. Just check the BBC News website link below to get an idea.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6498445.stm
While the idea itself is great, it has been evident that technocrats and bureaucrats have no idea how people live in this city and have probably never been to the surrounding poor suburbs of Santiago. People are figures, expendable, disposable, only rates in a project. 4 people dead? Lovely! the rate is so low amongst millions of people that it is not a problem! The dead are just statistics shown in a power point presentation for the board of directors and the technocrats in the government where both the public and private sectors congratulate one another showing their self-indulgence.
How in the world, people who are supposed to have the highest level possible of education and degrees (MBAs, PhDs, and the like) can be so utterly incompetent when it comes to designing and implementing a transportation project? It is indeed an immensely challenging project, it's true, I'm not arguing that part but if the authorities are supposed to choose the best advisers and consultants, why does this happen? Are those "consultants" real consultants or are they people from their political party who contributed to some senator's campaign? Or are there "political favours" that have to be paid back? Good thing the president is a Socialist because if we had the right wing parties in office, we might as well change the country's name from just Chile to Chile, Inc. No, the right wing in Chile is NOT the solution. After Pinochet's coup they systematically looted the Chilean state goods and made cronyism a national institution here, something the "Socialist" governments have learnt very well, I must say.
If you are ever in Santiago, try not to get on the Metro underground system during rush hour and forget about getting on a bus, really. At least until everything is redesigned and re-implemented. For the time being, this Transantiago thing is a timebomb and increasingly unhappy stressed out people won't take any more and will eventually explode with the consequent social unrest and the violence it brings with it.