Havana/ The MSMEs They will once again be the scapegoat of the Cuban authorities in the face of the fuel crisis on the eve of a summer that already looks difficult. In an “extraordinary energy council” held this week in Matanzas, it was determined to regulate the energy consumption of private businesses, a measure that, according to the local press, is destined to be taken throughout the country.
From bringing workers together in a single location to save electricity to organizing recreational activities for moments of “leisure” – a veiled allusion to the blackout – the authorities have proposed all kinds of measures that could cause a lot of annoyance among the people of Matanzas, who are already They predict that everything will remain the same.
As for private ones, in addition to suggesting that a consumption plan be set for them, the proposal shared on social networks by the local newspaper Giron It stipulates that it be carefully reviewed that all these private entities pay for electricity according to the non-residential private sector rate since, he assures, some “stick to the residential sector rate, which is less demanding. These two tasks will be given priority and a control system must be applied.”
“On weekends all dispensable state institutions will be disconnected”
Other “initiatives” put state companies, already victims of consumption limitations and mandatory savings schedules, in an even worse situation. “On weekends, all dispensable state institutions will be disconnected, that is, those that do not affect production, communications and other sectors. This strategy has been applied before, such as on Mother’s Day, and it has worked,” they reported.
Likewise, it is intended to “reduce waste” by rearranging workers, adopting teleworking and “monitoring those state entities that exceed the energy plans set for them or that do not respect the country’s policies in the face of this difficult situation.”
The authorities also mentioned the installation of photovoltaic parks and generating sets for water supply, projects that they have been announcing for months and so far have not shown results. This is how the people of Matanzas reminded them at the bottom of the publication, and they did not contain their annoyance or mockery of the measures.
“Teleworking, very good, but they also turn off the power at home,” said one user ironically while a mother asked about the measures – absent so far – that will be taken in schools. “It is impossible for a child to fall asleep at five in the morning and have to wake him up at six-thirty to go to school,” she claimed.
Few Internet users, however, noticed the control of the MSMEs. A report published in 14ymedio on the repercussions of the blackouts in the city of Matanzas had precisely the business owners as one of its protagonists. According to what some of them told this newspaper, with each blackout, in addition to income, many lose part of their merchandise.
“Here we use a coffee maker, toaster, oven… Everything is electrified. With constant blackouts, it is difficult to keep ice cream and cold products of the necessary quality,” he then explained to 14ymedio the owner of a cafeteria in the Iglesias neighborhood. Compared to how demanding the State is with individuals, he lamented, “the commitment is little” on the part of the authorities, and this control over consumption is proof of this.
This week Las Tunas experienced a situation similar to that of Matanzas. With a small decrease in the deficit, the official press began to stop the population by warning that the improvement did not mean that savings would end. “The slight improvement in the availability of electricity does not prevent savings for the state sector,” was the title of the note, which recalled that, when it comes to electricity, “the situation remains tense.”
