“The bridge in Palmarito was a botched job. But a big one”, Tomás Alexis, clarifies when he hears again the claim of the little bridge that connects two areas of Júcaro, and María, the delegate of that neighborhood, returns to say “the same with the same”.
That happy bridge has been accumulating more problems than saltpeter, but this Saturday a truck from Morón was going with the help of aggregates to bury all the patches. In addition, although certainly no one in Júcaro has powers over the El Vaquerito Construction Company, the management of the provincial authorities obtained in good port: there will be free access to Palmarito, as there will be lights, a new refrigerator (repaired)...
Some solutions had to "come from above", but the governor of the province was emphatic in explaining that many of the proposals are the responsibility of municipal officials and can be resolved if the delegate commits himself. "We are not here to do the work for the delegate, but to promote or unlock solutions," he said.
At his side, the first secretary of the Party, Liván Izquierdo Alonso, who accompanied him on the tour of the Popular Councils of Venezuela, delved into an idea that will be reiterated in various communities, since every week the Party will be checking the solution of the proposals in, at least one People's Council. “We are six members of the Provincial Bureau, at that rate, in a month we visited 24 and, in a quarter, 72, which exceeds the number of Popular Councils in the province (58). That will allow us to do politics from the participation of the people, which is the best way”, insisted the secretary.
However, he said, we have to do it by looking more and more at the neighborhoods and less at the top because solutions cannot always depend on the central level, nor is the country in a position to sustain it.
A figure illustrated it. Today Ciego de Ávila only has about 9,000 liters of oil per day, when the needs are very distant. The Transmetro buses, for example, would need 14,000 liters per day and the Cubasoy Company should consume 8,000. In this context, any management of irrigation, roads or something as simple as taking products to a store becomes more complex.
At this time, the shrimpers should be offshore in the catch; but the fuel has them anchored. Even so, the fishing company is already making profits and exceeded the loss of 1.4 million pesos in 2021.
For this reason, unblocking the bureaucracy that prevents cart drivers from joining solid waste collection in Júcaro was an urgency and none of the reasons put forward for its impossibility were accepted by Tomás Alexis. Nor, the section of road that connects them to the District of Susana, which has the approved budget and still lacks alternatives from the municipal entities themselves.
Solutions would have to be developed from there, especially "because Venezuela earns less than it spends and cannot continue to depend on the State," Liván said, when called for differentiated solutions, since "not all mothers with more than three minor children will receive housing, for example, but we can support with certain resources”.
Yanaima Barrizanto Rodríguez, at the head of that Popular Council for more than two years, knows this, and has seen how the companies there have promoted actions and “have made the community stand out” of more than 2,000 inhabitants where there are still 38 families, affected by Hurricane Irma, wait for a home.
Less complicated (in terms of housing) is Jagueyal, the other Popular Council of Venezuela to which the authorities of the province have arrived. There, with only three subsidies approved in the plan, the delegates and authorities showed disregard for the three cases that today have a subsidy and have not yet completed it, one of them has not even begun the foundation.
“So many people wanting to be granted one and here, with guaranteed resources and with entities that could help, and charge for the transportation of passing materials, are still defining who is going to solve the problem. They will not advance like this”, the first secretary required.
Jagueyal, surrounded by productive units and with almost 3,000 inhabitants, should show another face, even when the school that the Education Assurance Company (EPASE) is leaving impeccable; the funeral home that improved in space and services, and the potholed streets, insist on disrupting the old image.
They could go further, despite the fact that José Flores Simón, the man who has been a delegate for 32 years and has been presiding over that Popular Council for seven years maintains that there were barely four proposals left without a solution.
One of them is the fridge in the cellar; an evil that is growing throughout the province, where more than 250 units need refrigerated equipment and Internal Trade does not have a budget to cover that deficit. "Those things have to be explained by the delegates, because there are solutions that do not even depend on the management we do," pointed out Tomás Alexis, who challenged them to look for the solutions that are in their hands.
The sports field is another of the debts. There they wait for electrodes to weld some small stands and the governor wondered if they could not be made of wood. "The important thing is space and that young people can enjoy it, they have to look for alternatives in the midst of limitations," said the governor.
That idea was reiterated in both Councils. The transformation has to start from within. The floor is held by the delegates and their voters; but actions must also be driven from there.