Government-subsidized “Meal Centers”Announce the Organization of 155 Dinners in the Municipalities

Government-subsidized “Meal Centers”Announce the Organization of 155 Dinners in the Municipalities
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 12/05/12

The general administrator of the state-subsidized “Meal Centers,” Mr. Ramón María Rodríguez, announced that 155 dinners will be organized in all municipalities of the nation, serving some 5,000 people at each location. Invited guests at the dinners will include the governors of each province, senators, deputies, and trade union leaders and other local officials.

The program will also include the provision of medical care and follow-up by the administrator in charge of professionals in this area, such as Dr. Inés.  She will be responsible for a group of geriatric specialists and nutritionists who will monitor the food program.

The government official indicated that as recommended by President Danilo Medina, Christmas celebrations will not be organized in state institutions this year.  Instead, these festivities will be transferred to the communities and to the entire Dominican population, via the Meal Centers.  All institutional personnel will sharethese Christmas dinners with people of the communities, at a cost of more than 150 million pesos.

The president also referred to the special support that will be given to the Meal Centers beginning on December 20th, to help them organize community dinners in the 113 neighborhoods where the “Live Peacefully” program (previously “Safe Neighborhoods”) is currently implemented with the Ministry of the Interior and Police. A coordinated effort will be made to assist the community groups organizing the dinners, with an investment of 37 million pesos.

Rodríguez explained that the Christmas dinner offered by the Meal Centerswill consist of rice and beans with roasted pork, salad, rolls, apples and grapes.

Will Lajara, “a chemical engineer by profession, is a food specialist with extensive experience both locally and internationally. He has been hired by the Meal Centers to advise the Special Program on Complementary Foods and Micronutrients (PACMI in Spanish), an organization that will be developed by the government beginning in January 2013,” affirmed Rodríguez.

Lajara indicated that the state-subsidized Meal Centers—through their administrator Ramón María Rodríguez—have decided to implement a complementary food program for the nation’s most vulnerable population groups, specifically pregnant women, nursing women, and the elderly.  This is an initiative that has been pending implementation in the Dominican Republic for many years.

The specialist also affirmed that the people who use the Meal Center’s services will receive an additional food supplement to take home with them, which will provide the most expensive micronutrients in the Dominican diet: protein, vitamins and minerals.

The program will also include the provision of medical care and follow-up by the administrator in charge of professionals in this area, such as Dr. Inés.  She will be responsible for a group of geriatric specialists and nutritionists who will monitor the food program.