Latin American Network Information Center - LANIC

-DATE-
19861226
-YEAR-
1986
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
REPORT
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
11TH ANPP ASSEMBLY
-PLACE-
PALACE OF CONVENTIONS
-SOURCE-
HAVANA TELEVISION SVC
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19870102
-TEXT-
REPORTAGE CONTINUES ON 11TH ANPP ASSEMBLY

Castro Eyes Steel Problems

FL260425 Havana Television Service in Spanish 0100 GMT 26 Dec 86

[Video report from Havana's Palace of Conventions]

[Text] [Reporter] At the close of this newscast, discussions were still
under way on the report submitted by the Ministry of the Steelworking
Industry concerning the industry's performance from the triumph of the
revolution to date. The findings of the Industry, Transportation, and
Communications Committee of the National Assembly of the People's
Government [ANPP] noted that the report is self-critical and sets our
clearly what the deficiencies and problems are in light of the process to
rectify errors. The committee proposed 18 recommendations.

[Female deputy] The exploitation of installed capacity is still
insufficient. There are frequent interruptions in factories and shops
because of problems of materials and organization. Also affected are the
containers of some products, the quality of certain raw materials,
components, and tools, and in the timely delivery of these by the supplying
enterprises. In addition to these difficulties, there are limitations in
the capacity to store raw materials and finished products. The required
level of quality has not been achieved in the production of several
enterprises. Testing methods and control laboratories are often
insufficient. There is a certain delay in the design of several products.

[Reporter] Our commander in chief participated in the discussion. He
emphasized that we are very inexperienced in managing the organization of
work in the majority of the steelworking industry enterprises. A basic
problem of this industry, he said, is that it still has to import the
equipment it uses, a deficiency that could be eliminated if we considered
the resources the industry has at hand.

[Castro] My impression is that the most serious problems of the
steelworking industry -- they are listed here in the findings, but we must
emphasize them here in the ANPP -- lie in the cadre policy. Its cadre
policy has been very poor, very weak, too contemporizing. [as heard]
There's all this feeling sorry for their fellow workers; they take him out
of here and put him over there. It must have an objective cadre policy. I
think we should tell comrade lage [minister of the steelworking industry]
that this is one of the fundamental questions, points that have to be
resolved within the steelworking industry. The way to pick cadres, the
cadre policy. I feel this is a fundamental point.

I believe that the steelworking industry has been the most chaotic in the
problem of wages, excessive wages, quotas. I think that the steelworking
industry and the sugar industry are the two champions in this -- and they
are not the only ones; I think that all have had the same problems. The
sugar industry, with the repairs in the sugar mills, with the last-minute
rush, with the wages by agreement [salarios per acuerdo], has given rise to
many of the distortions that have been mentioned here.

There is almost no steelworking industry without these problems -- the
anomalies, the payment of wages that don't quite jibe. I don't know if it's
more difficult because of the very nature of the industry to work with
quotas. It might be harder to find the adequate criteria. I don't know why.
We would have to go deeper into the matter. But it is the industry with the
most problems in that, the most disorganization, the most anarchy, the most
chaos.

In general, the steelworking industry... [changes thought] because if we go
to the shipyards -- what's the name of the shipyards? Chullima. There are
problems there too. We have had to talk and discuss a great deal with the
workers, because, of course, once certain vices are introduced, it is hard
to get rid of them. Another problem the industry faces is quality. Not in
everything. There are some good products. I don't know if it inevitable
that each time we build new equipment, we have problems with the new
equipment. I think we have to insure that the products from the
steelworking industry are good.
-END-


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