The only Cuban province in which milk had not been lacking during 2022 has not been able to close the year showing off such an achievement. Rumors that Sancti Spíritus was going to withdraw the product from medical diets have been denied by the official press, which, however, confirms that in recent days it has not been possible to distribute it in several municipalities and it will have to stop using it in some derivatives to ensure the essential
“It is true that there was a lack of milk to cover the entire demand in two or three days, but in the next few days we will recover that delay. We have already started a strategy that includes stopping making other assortments in the La Sierpe mini-industry and in the milk factory. Mérida to send all that milk to the Spiritus industry”, said a Escambray Alberto Cañizares Rodríguez, general director of the Río Zaza Provincial Dairy Products Company.
According to the official newspaper of the province, only to cover medical diets and that destined for children’s consumption, 20,000 liters are needed each day, of which 5,000 have been lacking. The Delegation of Agriculture and companies in the sector have started an “exchange program with producers” that involves visiting them, including those who “already complied with their milk delivery plan and who in their own right can make use of the surplus” to negotiate an extra.
The Delegation of Agriculture and companies in the sector have started an “exchange program with producers” that involves visiting them
In addition, those who have not delivered the agreed by contract will also have their meeting with the officials of the sector.
The scarcity situation affects the municipalities of Sancti Spíritus, Trinidad and part of Cabaiguán, while, they affirm, the rest of the territories are supplied directly from the productive bases.
Cañizares Rodríguez said that in Sancti Spíritus – where until now there were no problems consuming the fresh product – there is no powdered milk to replace the basket and social consumption, and provisions are only available for children up to 12 months, since imports have decreased.
The manager said that the processed cheese and soy yogurt will continue to be made, since the necessary raw material is available, and that while the lack of fluid milk is solved, the delivery of ice cream for social consumption in the municipality of Headboard.
Indignation, meanwhile, runs through the affected municipalities. Social networks have been filled with messages in search of the lost product, especially powdered milk, which is already sold for half a kilo at 500 pesos.
But speculation continues on the street and many do not believe the official denial. “In my winery they informed me that they are not going to give diet milk until further notice,” says a user on networks.
“Once again the Government is left without informing in a timely manner. It was the drivers of the milk trucks who ‘informed’ to suspend the delivery of the diets”
Meanwhile, in his own Escambray readers maintain that the authorities are not sincere with the population. “That executive did not tell the whole truth, powdered milk if they have what they do not want to release it for, what do they want it for then? The decision-making authorities of the province should carry out a thorough analysis and release the powdered milk they have stored,” says a commentator.
“Once again the Government is left without informing in a timely manner. It was the drivers of the milk trucks who ‘informed’ to suspend the delivery of the diets,” says another.
The note does not raise any hypothesis as to why the current situation is occurring. Last week the newspaper Invasive addressed a similar issue in Ciego de Ávila, where milk shortages are chronic. The managers of the sector revealed that many producers, given the State’s non-payments and the low price they get for the product and that does not even cover the costs, have decided that it is preferable to pay the fine of 10 pesos per liter of milk not delivered and sell it. in the informal market, where they can obtain up to 100 pesos.
Another commentator from the official newspaper laments: “What poverty and lack of resources, I have not visited a country, no matter how underdeveloped it may be, that has to invent so much to guarantee a glass of milk to a minimum percentage of its population, anywhere that product is purchased on a common market.
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