When Edgar Augusto Féliz Méndez took over the management of the Comedores Económicos del Estado, he found a weak administrative structure and inadequate conditions, both in terms of the physical plant and the organizational aspect. For this reason, in order to put the institution that transforms food from raw to cooked in ideal conditions, he implemented the 2020-2024 Quality and Service Improvement Program, in the food and services offered to the population.
This program has been developed in an efficient way, achieving that not only the population in condition of vulnerability goes to have lunch in the State Economic Canteens, but also many institutions, organizations and companies use this service for the feeding of their collaborators.
The information was made known by the general director of Comedores Económicos, who showed his satisfaction by highlighting the positive impact that the improvement in the quality of the food has had, as well as an increase in the rations served in all the vending centers of the country.
“The quality of the food has caused that canteens that used to cook one sack of rice are currently cooking 7 sacks, and this is due to the quality of the service we provide to the population and free of charge”, he highlighted.
He revealed that in these almost 4 years great transformations have been made that have taken it from being an invisible institution to one that is totally visible and in great demand.
“We found 36 canteens and to date we have more than 130 canteens operating throughout the national geography, including the Mobile Kitchens that provide a very important service, because due to their ease of mobilization they can be in the places where they are most needed,” he said.
He said that another of the initiatives of great impact has been the disposition to provide free food to the students of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), through the agreement for the entity’s dining rooms to be operated by the State’s Economic Canteens (Santo Domingo, Barahona, San Juan, San Francisco and Monseñor Nouel).
“The inter-institutional alliances have been a fundamental axis to reach different populations through other institutions of social action such as the Cabinet of Social Policies, Propeep, Ministry of Interior and Police, Supérate, Indesur, military corps, firemen, Civil Defense, governors’ offices, mayors’ offices, among others”, he pointed out.
The official considered that the agreement signed with the Attorney General’s Office to supply food to more than 30,000 prisoners spread in the 52 penitentiary centers of the country has had the greatest impact.
“I consider that the agreement signed with the Attorney General’s Office to supply food to the prisoners held in correctional and penitentiary centers throughout the country has had the greatest impact. The decision of the Central Government for this service to be supplied by CEED has had a positive impact on the National Budget, since at present the canteens supply 52 centers with a prison population of more than 30,000 inmates with the same budget used by previous governments to supply only 27 penitentiary centers with a population of 13,000 inmates”, he said.
The head of the institution thanked the support provided by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader Corona, to achieve the socio-economic impact through the distribution of food on a regular, sustained and good quality basis, in the interest of mitigating food insecurity and improving the living conditions of the beneficiaries, in addition to being an important part of poverty reduction and the elimination of hunger in the Dominican Republic.
The official referred to the democratization of the procurement processes, noting that currently more than 400 procedures have been carried out in which 1,694 bidders have been awarded, especially from the MSME and MSME Women sector.
He said that, although neither he nor his team work to be recognized or awarded, the Comedores Económicos have received both national and international awards. However, he considered that the greatest award is knowing that hundreds of thousands of Dominicans receive dignified and quality food.
Source:presidencia.gob.do
