14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, October 8, 2023 — The principal of the Republic of Costa Rica Primary School, located on Herrera Street in Havana’s Luyanó neighborhood, will have to pay tens of thousands of pesos out of her salary to cover what police estimate to be the cost of eggs and rice that disappeared from the facility last weekend.
According to an employee at the school, who prefers not to give her name, six bags of rice and an unknown quantity of eggs intended for student lunches were reported stolen on Monday morning.
The employee reports that the police immediately showed up at the scene and were told by several people in positions of responsibility at the school that thieves had taken the items by passing them through a window. Upon inspection, however, the officers found the window to be too small.
Suspecting it could have been an inside job, they immediately took the principal away for questioning.
“Since neither the rice nor the eggs were anywhere to be found, they applied the law of material liability and fined the warehouse manager,” she explains, referring to the rule that governs actions by officials in charge of protecting property. “I don’t know the value of the eggs, but the value of the rice was 24,000 pesos,” she added
The 79-year-old school custodian was also subject to disciplinarian actions: a 500-peso fine and the loss of his job. “Just imagine, an old man. He could have been sleeping like a child and not heard anything,” says the employee in sympathy.
Everything at the school seemed to be back to normal on Thursday except for the fact that the children had neither rice nor eggs for lunch. Both are among the food items that have seen the most dramatic price increases in recent months.
The price of eggs is particularly shocking, selling for as much as 3,000 pesos a carton on the black market. Buying a dozen in the United States and sending them to Cuba costs around seven dollars plus the cost of shipping.
As of July, the price of rice had risen 47% over the previous six months.
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