food
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press Writer
4:42 p.m. EDT, September 25, 2009
HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban government plans to close free cafeterias in
state ministries and instead give employees a stipend to buy food.
Under the program, designed to save money for Cuba's cash-strapped
government, workers who ate free or for little cost in their government
jobs instead will receive about 70 U.S. cents a day — a significant
amount in a country where the average monthly salary is $19.
The pilot program announced Friday will start Oct. 1 for the ministries
of Work, Finance, Commerce and Economy. If successful, it will be
extended nationwide, the Communist Party daily Granma said.
The move represents a change in philosophy for the communist-run
government, which dominates the island's economy and micromanages many
aspects of Cubans' lives — from rationing food to determining who can
own a car.
Cuba's always-fragile economy has been hit hard by the global financial
crisis. About 3 million state employees eat at government cafeterias
daily, according to the paper.
President Raul Castro, who took over from elder-brother Fidel in
February 2008, has said he wants to streamline the country's stifling
bureaucracy and put a measure of decision-making in the hands of citizens.
The newspaper insisted that the idea is not to take away a benefit, but
rather "to open the doors to rationality and to savings, and to free the
country from a weight that it cannot continue to bear."
A simple meal like a pork sandwich costs about 25 cents, while pasta
bought at a street vendor runs about 50 cents — meaning some workers
could save money, depending on what they eat.
Cuba to close some government cafeterias, replace them with stipends for
food -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com (26 September 2009)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-cb-cuba-no-free-lunch,0,4223463.story?track=rss
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