José Izquierdo, Grupo Decoro
GÜINES, August (www.cubanet.org) - Retirees complain about the food in
a communal kitchen set up for them near the Clodimira Acosta school, in Güines,
a town south of Havana.
Here are the comments of some of the dozens waiting for lunch on a recent
day:
Josefa López, 73, said: "We cant swallow the stew they
feed us here anymore. Look at the flies, at the lack of hygiene. But we have to
eat here, because government restaurants are very expensive, and I only get 80
pesos (3.07 dollars at the current exchange rate) a month.
Oscar Núñez expressed jokingly: "Im not going to
get worked up about it; the food is swill, but if I get excited at my age (80) Im
going in the hole, and no one comes out of there."
Sarah Pérez declined to give her age, and said the personnel at the
facility try, but the food is badly prepared. "They only offer you rice,
watery peas, a vegetable sometimes, and a sticky something they call flavored
rice. Also, dont even dream about meat. In six months, only once
have we seen soyburgers. This is horrible."
One of the employees said as he stirred a pot: "This is not easy, man.
Im here since 4 a.m. I have to be resourceful to cook, because the wood is
green and wouldnt burn and they dont give us diesel fuel to light
it. A while ago I had to go out to buy a bottle of diesel fuel for five pesos."
The retirees complain about food cooked without spices or grease. The
employee said: "All of us who work here buy the spices ourselves, because
otherwise we couldnt insure ours, you know how hard the situation is. This
way we insure at least the rice and beans for our homes. About the grease, I can
tell you that the food doesnt contain any because what they supply is only
good for five days; there is nothing for the rest of the month."
The man, 53, asked fearfully not to be named, because he is afraid of being
fired.
Versión
original en español
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