San Cristobal. This was the name of the sugar mill built in 1918 about five kilometers from the town having same name, belonging to Pinar del Río province. Two years later it had its first harvest and closed in 2006 after a comprehensive process of sugar production restructuring in Cuba.

The sugar mill ant its areas were scenarios of important moments in local history, such as Jesús Menéndez´s visit , in 1947, and Raúl Castro Ruz, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), in 1977, its nationalization in 1961 and the name of José Martí.

Closer in time, towards the beginning of the current decade, Martí sugar mill became the Diversified Production Base Business Unit (UEB), belonging to the Agricultural Company in San Cristóbal.

This idea has a great social and economic impact for San Cristobal township . On the one hand the UEB created several choices for Marti´s inhabitants , on the other, it made passible the use of the facilities of the old sugar mill and, consequently, avoided the deterioration of the property and the loss of a part of local history.

Inside the entity

Roberto Meléndez Aguiar has headed the UEB since its creation . This is why he knows very well the history of this place , which surprises due to its dynamics, organization, economic results, the relationship between young workers and experts, and the use of resources available in their own development.

For the devoted manager , and this is worth more than gold, the UEB keeps the vitality of the outer area , by providing employment to locals and making them primary consumers of productions demanded such as: syrup, soda or sweets made out of flour.

There they make bread and pizzas that they offer in the air-conditioned market located in San Cristobal. And, as the UEB is responsible for the management , it is a challenge for workers to keep the variety of offers: syrups, juices, pulps, pork, vinegar, croquettes, hams and smoked products, all produced here, and farm products.

According to the manager, the advantage of having several processing centers allows them to manufacture around 15 products for the market, in addition, they contribute to the import substitution when marketing in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) and hotels in Havana.

The manger explained that they have the necessary packaging to work until January or February 2020 and it is the policy of the unit to ensure between four or five months of coverage of this resource, vital for production continuity and population´s satisfaction.

The UEB also manufactures animal feed for the livestock in San Cristóbal agricultural enterprise. This year, it started the production of liquid feed to meet the demand for food required by the pig agreement, with which it expects to deliver 6,000 animals weighing more than 90 kilograms.

Everything is worth, everything is usefull

Everything can be reused. This is one of the premises of workers in Diversified Productions UEB, who considers innovation and repairing of old equipment, two mainstays of their development.

Gabrik López Ruiz, head of the manufacturing center, said that the stirrer , work tables, sealer, climate equipment, among other instruments, were restored by entity´s workers, and nothing would work if they did not have welders, turners , mechanics or electricians.

The reactivation of the machining workshop was of great importance, where former workers of the sugar mill work, very skillful and with much initiative, responsible for keeping the UEB working like a clock.

Here they strictly comply with the measures such as turning off lights and equipment from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., do not use weather equipment and make productions outside peak hours.

In addition, given the current energy situation, the maximum is to take full use of the equipment to meet production plans in less time and produce between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. .. This effort has allowed reducing consumption, since 250 or 300 kW per day that they require , they use on average between 80 and 90 kW.

José Martí sugar mill areas keeps good look , it does not forget its past and writes new stories that future generations will rememer. But today it is appropriate to recognize the efforts of its 176 workers, of which 60 are young, so that San Cristóbal has quality food throughout the year.

TRANSLATION BY LMMS