Cuban Parliamentarians Assess Economic and Social Reality in Eastern Cuba

Camaguey, Cuba, Feb 11 (ACN) The president of the National Assembly of People’s Power (Cuban Parliament) Esteban Lazo Hernandez call on local authorities in this eastern city on Friday to undertake a government labor marked by permanent its linkage with the people and have the population to increasingly participate in the decision-taking processes and contribute to the solution of the problems, many of which can be found in the very territories.

While summing up a three-day parliamentary visit to Camaguey, the top parliamentary leader said that the Cuban government follows the main concerns of the people, and these visits and exchange allow to identify the steps to follow in each municipality and province.

The visit by members of the Parliament’s permanent commissions evaluated the pace of social programs and priority policies in eight Camaguey districts in which they witness people’s concerns abut the high prices of products making their everyday life very expensive.

Permanent commissions coordinator Marta Hernandez Romero referred to the scarcity or poor variety of basic staples and difficulties in urban passenger transportation, aggravated in rural areas.

The Parliament president said that transportation is the means that usually guarantees most economic activities while its current deficit in rural areas has caused discontent and emigration to urban areas. The lack of transport means has led to the increase in the prices of private passenger transportation as expressed in the final report of the visit.

The visitors corroborated an increase in food production stemming from taking advantage of all idle lands and developing ranching activity, an area with important achievements but still limited in the province, with territories where thousands of hectares are still idle or under exploited like in the municipality known as Vertientes.

Esteban Lazo referred to the possibility to produce food in areas surrounding the city of Camaguey to supply vegetables, beans and other staples to the urban areas bearing in mind that 40 percent of the population of the province is located in the city.

Government leader in Camaguey Armando Lopez told the visitors that a local economic strategy prioritizes food production, while also important is the sugar sector currently with lack of specialized labor and showing low sugar cane yield, which impacts the current sugar output.

The Cuban Parliament president insisted in the need to involve the local university and other higher education centers in economic projects at the municipal level, although the university is already linked to several scientific and technical priority projects.

The parliamentary visit to Camaguey evaluated 211 production centers, 11 communities and neighborhoods under current transformation and allowed the exchange of views with over 4 thousand citizens.