Cuban Parliamentary Commissions Tackle Strengthening of the Economy

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 12 (acn) The debates in the 10 standing working committees of the National Assembly of the People's Power that started on Saturday in this capital and will continue until Monday are aimed at strengthening the economy, services and attention to the people.

That assessment, made on Saturday by Esteban Lazo, member of the Politburo of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) and President of the National Assembly of the People's Power, underlines the extent of the analysis of strategic issues by deputies, along with heads of organizations and institutions, as prelude to the fifth ordinary period of sessions of the eighth legislature of that supreme body, which will take place on Wednesday.
In the presence of the commission of Education, Culture, Science, Technology and the Environment, Miguel Diaz-Canel, member of the Politburo and First Vice-president of the councils of State and Ministers, stated that transforming scientific organizations in high tech socialist State companies is today a purpose in Cuba.
Also on this first day of work in commissions, particularly in International Relations, its president, Deputy Yolanda Ferrer, said that the announcements by the presidents of Cuba and the United States on the reestablishment of diplomatic relations have aroused great expectation among parliaments in the world.
On July 20 their interest offices in Washington and Havana will officially become embassies, confirmed to the press Josefina Vidal, director general of the United States Department of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, after exchanges with members of that permanent working group.
In the Food and Agriculture Commission its deputies called for raising the quality of contracts to ensure timely delivery of inputs required to fulfill the development plans of agricultural cooperatives and other forms of management.
In that of Industry, Construction and Energy, Alfredo Lopez, Minister of Energy and Mines, announced the construction of seven new wind farms, with direct foreign investment, as part of a program of medium-term development for the best use of renewable energy sources in Cuba.
Likewise, the members of the Commission of Constitutional and Legal Affairs praised the positive implementation of Law 115 on maritime, river and lake shipping and its regulations, and of decree number 317, all of which begin to give economic and ecological benefits to the country.
Another remarkable fact on Saturday was the announcement of the Commission for Assistance to Services made by Maria del Carmen Concepcion, Minister of the Food Industry, that more than nine million CUC (convertible pesos) will be allocated by her ministry this year and in 2016 to gradually resolve the critical situation of technological obsolescence existing in the production and distribution of soy yogurt.
Also, Tania Duconger, president of that permanent working group of the Parliament, acknowledged the discreet progress seen in the revival of trade-related activities, and that, with the transfer of management, the State is freed from responsibilities that do not belong to it.
Still far from meeting the increasing demand, in quantity or quality, the transportation of passengers in Cuba will be slightly benefited by the incorporation, in the remaining months of this year, of 40 new buses and another 140 for 2016.
Also on Saturday, Deputy Transport Minister Eduardo Rodriguez informed the members of the Committee for Attention to Services that in the first half of 2015 another 28 destined to transport passengers -one of the issues that raise the controversy over its implications social welfare- began to offer service.