PINAR DEL RIO, May 21 (Víctor Rolando Arroyo, UPECI /
www.cubanet.org) - Local officials are offering Pinar del Río residents
the opportunity to buy a weekly 15 kilogram (about 33 pound) sack of charcoal
for cooking because they cant guarantee regular deliveries of liquefied
natural gas.
Several sources said gas deliveries have become progressively worse in the
last six months, in spite of a government campaign started five years ago which
it called "gasification program."
Thousands of families are affected by the measure. Initially, there is the
cost of the charcoal, 20 pesos a sack, or a little more than 86 pesos a month,
on an average monthly salary of 240 pesos. Then, the equipment formerly used
with gas is not suitable for cooking with charcoal, so most consumers have to
improvise inefficient ways to cope.
Many here say they would rather have the government make kerosene available
to them.
"It turns out that in the matter of fuel, progress was short-lived,"
said one resident. "Now we are going back to the most backward fuel,
charcoal."
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