In the absence of stevedores, the authorities summon the population and the Army
14ymedio, Havana, July 8, 2024 — The Cuban authorities have put the population to work unloading rice from the ships due to the lack of stevedores in the ports. This is recognized in articles in the official press published this Monday, one in Granma and one in Ahora!.
In the port of Nuevitas (Camagüey), where 5,000 tons of rice arrived to be distributed in Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey and Las Tunas, they took workers from various sectors, “young people from the territory” and even soldiers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR). Although the ship is on time, the unloading must be completed no later than Tuesday.
As he admitted in an interview with the newspaper Granma, Mario Martínez Mora, director of the Puerto de Nuevitas Base Business Unit, “our own force” is “very limited. We currently have one-third of the staff of stevedores. That’s why the support we receive is essential, especially in the unloading and cleaning of the cargo holds.”
The fundamental activity of the territory, at the moment, is the transport of rice
Meanwhile, at the Vita pier, in Holguín, the authorities are using “all means” to unload, as soon as possible, the 2,360 tons of rice that arrived on Friday. A few stevedores and workers from other sectors participate in the chore, brought from the eastern provinces and even from the center of the country, to distribute the rice in the province. “The fundamental activity of the territory, at the moment, is the transport of rice,” explained the director of the port, Manuel González Cecilio, to the newspaper Ahora!.
To ensure that the