Baby Lores , renowned singer of reggaeton in Cuba, recently won , along with other partners , a bidding process , to turn into a food service cooperative the emblematic Havana restaurant ” El Jardin” .
While several people expressed interest in leasing those premises, the commission created for that bidding approved the project submitted by the artist and other members of the cooperative.
José Zorrilla, CEO of the Provincial Company of Havana restaurants, stressed that his offer met the requirements for leasing them, under this condition, the restaurant located in Linea and C streets, in the neighborhood of Vedado, which had stayed closed for a number of years.
Among the values of the project, the how quickly they plan to reopen the facility (first quarter of 2014), after its restoration, stood out, as well as the proposed monetary contribution to that entity by way of lease.
According to the legal framework of cooperatives they operate as legal entities with defined economic and social purposes, while they are created voluntarily by its members and are based primarily on their work input.
The gradual formation , operation and expansion of these forms of management, at this early stage , covers sectors such as transport , fisheries , personal services , technical and domestic , the recovery of raw materials, production and construction materials .
The cooperative ” El jardin ” , in addition to serving haute cuisine products in convertible pesos ( CUC ) will also have offers in Cuban pesos 24/7 at affordable prices , stated the author of well-known pieces as “Déjala ir” and “La mujer del pelotero”.
The singer, who has also shared the stage with important musicians and Cuban groups like Orishas and Descemer Bueno, said that they will provide services too to workplaces near the facility.
Today, it is a passage into the unknown for most of the contestants in these advantageous quests, while generating other purposes, such as community work. In this regard, Baby Lores said that as added values that cooperative will develop social activity in order to contribute with neighborhood organizations to redirect inappropriate social behaviors of children and youth, using as tools music and visual arts workshops.
According to Camila Piñeiro Harnecker , researcher at the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy , a cooperative that works properly is more willing to take on social obligations than private companies , while their operations can be as profitable as those entities.
Studies confirm that where there is greater conglomeration of associations of such type , the social conditions of the communities are better , as well as the needs of the people living there are better satisfied , because they are organized to do so , the specialist highlighted.
Hence, in addition to untie our productive forms effectively with quality goods and services , these structures serve as an incentive to encourage, also in the sphere of the economy , the desire for collective sense .
This proposal is part of the first steps of one of the measures for updating the Cuban economic model in order to unleash the productive forces that still lie dormant. In recent months, several inactive state-owned premises entered similar processes in order to make them work using socialized productive forms.
Author
Danays Gálvez Salas
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