Letters To The Editor.(Selected) Published 9 November 2012 Praise Where Due. Our newspaper recently printed an important article about health services entitled “The Cost of Free Health Care”. I have since met with people on whom this piece had a positive impact and for whom it clarified certain issues because there is a tendency to look only at important social and political aspects without focus on the financial or economic. I thought it timely to express my view that in conjunction with Granma and our TV channels other media should prioritize health related topics because they rank amongst the most valued achievements of our Revolution and stand out in the world as a true example of human rights which we fraternally share with many other countries. I further consider they should highlight the teams in this sector dedicated to the improvement of the life quality of patients who suffer a variety of illnesses and those who assume a true responsibility and for a love of their profession dedicate themselves to saving the lives of others. The sectors unions could play a lead role in this regard. I would like to share certain experiences I had as a cancer patient because it is important to highlight good as well to criticise. On 31 May 2011 I attended my neighbourhood clinic. Because of my presenting symptoms I was sent for tests and was referred to a urologist for examination. He ordered further tests and a scan which on review warranted the taking of a biopsy. The biopsy was positive and my case was transferred to an oncologist, who having taken x-rays prescribed a treatment programme comprising of a vaccine every three months and one tablet daily. At a follow-up consultation it was determined that superficial radiation-therapy was necessary for which I would have to travel to Pinar del Rio Provincial Hospital, because my local Commandante Pinares Hospital did not administer such treatments. The quality of care I received from nurses, doctors and administrators was excellent. I did not require admission because I have a daughter living close to the hospital. I underwent thirty three radiotherapy sessions which concluded 11 March 2012, at which point I was again placed under the care of my local hospital. I was so taken with the quality of my treatment during the radiation therapy programme that I recommended that my local Combatants Organisation grant formal recognition to the nurses, doctors, technicians and other workers at the prestigious institution for their professionalism, dedication, respect and love which also contributed to my healing. I have since learned and experienced even more. The 14 municipalities of Pinar del Rio province, which include 2 which now belong to Artemisa province, transport patients who are accompanied by a very attentive nurse three times per week to and from the provincial hospital so that out-patient treatment might be administered. Inpatients receive a high level of care and appropriate alimentation and nobody has at any point of their treatment to reach into their pocket to pay. This represents, above all else, another reason why we must defend our Socialism. J. R. Basulto Abreu. (NEXT) Shared Concerns about Fuel. I feel the unease expressed by Palenzuela Marrero regarding fuels used by car and truck drivers but do not agree with his suggested solution. His proposal is superficial and does not get to the root of the problem. If, as a best possible outcome, a receipt for 20 litres is presented when 60litres have actually been consumed, it represents only a bureaucratic fix and does not resolve the underlying problem. Something similar occurred with the now withdrawn directive dealing with the back-market in industrial products. It is true that these were of dubious origin having either been imported or coming from the retail sector. But prohibition will not put an end to a market when a demand exists which the retail sector does not service. The answer is an efficient retail sector. This, like may another, is a difficult problem to resolve because if by magic we could oblige all transport drivers, many of whom are private sector workers, to purchase their fuel at the pump for the official price there would be a knock-on effect and the general public would be hit by even greater price increases. We are dealing here with an enormous and complex enterprise and, like when undertaking repairs to a large structure regardless of how bad its condition may be, each proposed alteration has to be considered cautiously. That is not to say that things can be left as they presently are. We must identify from where the black market fuel is coming and simultaneously seek a solution to the wider problem. I do not know if the pricing issue can be explored. We are not self-reliant in this regard and it would be most unrealistic to propose selling below-cost fuel, but perhaps the profit margin affords some room for manoeuvre. A feasibility study might be undertaken as we identify the locations of our fuel leaks. J. A. Rodriguez Sarmiento. (NEXT) Cultural Noise? Talking about noise in Cuba is as if one is talking about air, light, night or nature. It is an omnipresent and almost permanent feature. There are those who consider noise an idiosynchronistic aspect of our identity. It is as though some Cubans paraphrase Descartes when he said “I shout, I make noise, therefore I am”. We are surrounded by speakers which are situated in residential areas, bike taxis converted into instruments of audio-torture, street vendors whose calls are no way reminiscent of those of republican colonial creoles, exaggerated oral discourse, loud voices as a demonstration of masculinity or femininity, contaminating motor vehicles emitting irksome noises, dogs belonging to owners who disregard others barking regardless of the hour, drunks who demand to be taken into account by those who do not wish to participate with them and shouts and whistles of a type that raise doubts as to whether all human beings have attained equal degrees of evolution. All the above destructively invade our audio environment. Even worse is that laws do not exist to control these assaults and those that do are not enforced, our public order institutions do nothing in the important and necessary battle against the noise pollution which is a torment to some and an insensitive habit to others. Those who live some distance from urban centres may forget how vastly society has extended itself to where scandalizing and noise generation are frequent occurrences arising from sheer vulgarity, social indiscipline, a false concept of anthropological tradition and the lowest common denominator between intellectual development and a confused notion of what education intended to impart and which increasingly lead to hearing loss or impairment. It would seem that in this instance there is no understanding of what Marx meant when he said “if man is shaped by circumstances, circumstances must be humanised”. Or have we resigned ourselves to the idea that noise is, in fact, a part of our cultural identity? M. Lopez Olivia. (NEXT) Identification of City Buses. Our country has made and continues to make significant investments to improve transport services. The introduction of Chinese made buses has led to improvements in both the Capital and other provinces. I am not going to comment the abuses committed by unscrupulous persons against them or the frequent non and under payment of fares which indicate social indiscipline or indeed the thrusting, breaking and acceleration that lead to loss of balance on our trips. These issues have been often raised in this section. I want to refer to the signage on various routes. When these buses were introduced it was a pleasure to identify them by means of a band on the upper front which lit up at night and the route it travelled, from where it hailed and what the destination was. With time these began to fade and there does not seem to be the means to alter the identification band on a vehicle which for operational reasons has switched routes. In most cases the band is removed and replaced with a hand-made, sometimes with pencilled lettering, sign on the windscreen which makes it impossible to identify the bus at any distance greater than 20 meters. I think the City Bus Company should make an effort to replace the identification bands on their fleet which in addition the annoyance of users creates a very bad impression for visitors to our city. J. R. Gonzalez Cid. (NEXT) Much to Relate about Delegates. I carefully read the articles published in the edition of 2 November by three writers who, according to what they say, have had personal experiences at different stages of their lives as elected delegates and who openly shared their views that the only real way to understand what it is to be a delegate is to actually do the job oneself. I feel inclined to share my humble opinion because the subject is of interest to me and is topical because it coincides with the electoral process presently underway and which requires now more than ever, the active participation of all Cubans. Just like those who precede and who have correctly expressed their opinions, I was a delegate to the Diez de Octubre assembly for 10 years and for a period of 7 years I served as president of one of its Popular Councils which afforded me the opportunity to gain experience in a sphere of voluntary work which is seldom recognised or appreciated either by the electorate or the administrative directors, most of whom do not fully comply with their duty to the public and then place the blame for their shortcomings on the shoulders of the delegate and then unfairly and indeed harmfully asking that question we are all too accustomed to hearing, “why should I bother to vote for a delegate who never does anything?” It is also true to say that certain delegates serve honourably whilst others detract from it by an absence of feeling and assume it decrees a certain type of lifestyle, attitudes which also have provoked us to suffer bitter and hurtful experiences. I share the opinions previously expressed about the need for the delegate to be a natural leader of his peers because his election represents a free expression of his neighbours will, regardless of age, sex, career etc. although I would go further and say that he may have been born with leadership qualities or he may equally have acquired them by virtue of example and an attitude that can be gained by virtue of life experience. I also think that, with apologies to those who think this voluntary work should take on a more professional form with a view to facilitating the actions this person might undertake on behalf of his community, such change would only serve to bureaucratize the role. Let us remind ourselves that delegates attend the Popular Councils alongside the organizations of the masses and what they themselves consider to be most important local administration agencies. They also comprise 50% of the Popular Councils which carries the authority of the state in this regard and which, although not an instrument of the government or the administration, above all else controls and finances above local services provision and the administrative apparatus. Article 104 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba decrees the role to be played by Popular Councils in the cities, towns, neighbourhoods, villages and rural zones and their functions are clearly defined in Law 91 which deals exclusively with them. We should also keep in mind that both the president and vice-president are professionals and that although they not substitute delegates who act autonomously for the constituencies they represent, they do have a duty to support, coordinate and facilitate their work with the local administration in their absence. I can absolutely assure that when a Popular Council functions as a unit it carries a moral authority and is respected, the results locally are different and delegates feel increasingly supported, free and secure. It is also important to emphasise that on polling day in spite of mass media encouragement to always elect the best and most capable we sometimes do not, for reasons well known and previously addressed here, nominate the person best equipped to be our representative. It is not an easy thing for a delegate to face his electorate in a feedback session without reaction to his endeavours to inform them of his actions and where almost always he is faced with the opinions of a public frustrated by the inadequate responses of administrators who are conveniently unavailable to answer them. There is ample training given to delegates to prepare them to confront the challenge of this complex moment in which he as gives an account of his work to the public, imparts the information he has been given by the directorship of organisations and gets more suggestions the meeting becomes a theatre of lamentations and apologies. Often such accountability meetings are attended by a deputy or a delegate from a provincial council elected for the district whose presence at the very least serves to give some moral support to the delegate or simply to question if they are known by the electoral base or the localities principal directors. As one of those who previously wrote here expressed this is a topic that has many aspects to dissect and about which there are an infinite number of opinions. President Raul Castro Ruz summed it in his closing statement at the Seventh Ordinary Plenary Session of the Organisation of Small Agricultural Producers in saying that “without a change of mentality we will be incapable of making the changes required to guarantee the irreversible character of our socialism. A. Ochoa More.