A Cuban State Subsidy to Repair One’s Home… and Go Insane in the Process

A Cuban State Subsidy to Repair One's Home… and Go Insane in the Process
January 2, 2015
Jorge Milanés Despaigne

HAVANA TIMES — After two years of requesting a State subsidy to finish
some construction work at home – work I'd been unable to complete for
financial reasons – the municipal government in Habana del Este finally
approved the aid, for a value of 48,394 Cuban pesos (or US $ 2,419).

This is "prioritized financial aid" assigned by the Cuban State to
low-income people, aimed at helping these repair homes that are in poor
condition. It includes the assigning of building materials,
transportation and construction workers.

On receiving official approval, I headed to the bank, as is established
and, the next day, went to the place where construction materials are
sold, known in Cuba as rastros. I found out the prices, forms of
transportation and how the process works. The receptionist, a woman
named Niurka, detailed the procedure to follow to buy the materials, but
I decided not to buy or put anything on reserve that day. I waited for
the steel rods to arrive first, and was able to buy these without any
problems.

The next day, I got a call at work from my neighbor, who informed me
concrete blocks had just arrived at the rastro. I got there in 20
minutes but, despite having literally run to the place, it was too late:
all blocks were already spoken for, or so Belkis, the woman in charge of
the warehouse, told me. At the entrance, I asked some people waiting for
other materials (who had also received subsidies) some questions.

On my way home, I saw some men selling concrete blocks out of a trailer.
I asked them whether they had been to the rastro and they said they
hadn't, that they could take the blocks to my home at 10 Cuban pesos the
unit, if I was interested. I said no, because I have to buy these at the
rastro at the subsidized price, which is cheaper.

The next day, I was the first to arrive at the rastro and wait for the
concrete blocks to arrive. While I waited, I asked the people there
(including the "tricycle taxis") some questions. "If you don't keep a
constant eye on the blocks, you'll never get your hands on them, because
they haven't come in for a while and, when they do, they're already
spoken for," were some of the comments I got.

With thin information, I took a break from work for a few days, to give
the matter my full attention (lest the roof of my house collapse on top
of me).

I was at the entrance to the place, located in Cojimar, at seven in the
morning, waiting for the truck to arrive.

At 11 in the morning, I went to the market located four blocks away for
a few minutes. When I got back, the blessed truck loaded with concrete
blocks had already arrived. When I went into the office, Belkis, the
warehouse lady, told me that, since I wasn't there when the truck
arrived, they had sold all of the blocks to a woman who was already
there. She pointed at her with an almost threatening look so I would
approve of her misdeed, as subsidized cases are a priority.

To be continued…

Source: A Cuban State Subsidy to Repair One's Home… and Go Insane in the
Process - Havana Times.org - http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=108304