Reimbursement is Important

Reimbursement is Important / Fernando Damaso
Posted on October 30, 2015

Fernando Dámaso, 23 October 2015 — In Cuba, unlike other countries,
public services are totally centralized by the State through its
different companies: electricity, gas, telephone, water and sewer,
municipal and other.

Being part of the same thing, these entities are considered untouchable,
and they do things and undo them at their own whim, without considering
the effect on citizens and businesses, State as well as private. Thus,
they connect and disconnect the electricity according to their
interests. The same thing happens with the gas service, telephones and
drinking water.

Furthermore, in order to do maintenance and make repairs, they break up
the streets and sidewalks; they interrupt transit and create multiple
nuisances. Repairing what's destroyed takes a long time to execute, and,
in general, it's bad quality. All of this causes economic loss to all
types of businesses, for which no one answers.

It would be good if these consequences, when they aren't caused by
natural phenomena, were reimbursed economically by the companies causing
them, by handing over a sum for the harm inflicted on a factory or a
business: the value of what they lost when they had to stop producing or
selling.

In addition to being just, this would oblige these companies to be more
efficient in their work. Presumably, where they presently take 10 or 12
hours to repair a breakdown, with a brigade in which few work and many
talk or lounge about, if they had to make reimbursements, they would see
themselves obligated to do the work in less time and with only the
minimum, necessary personnel. Furthermore, the result of the work would
be better quality, since doing it poorly would affect the companies
economically.

It's something to think about; although, personally, I think that many
of these services could be leased out, with less cost, better quality,
less time and more efficiency, by private companies that contract for
them, a general practice with magnificent results in many countries.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Source: Reimbursement is Important / Fernando Damaso | Translating Cuba
- http://translatingcuba.com/reimbursement-is-important-fernando-damaso/