He Government of Buenos Aires under Jorge Macri He ordered this last week Closure of 40 dining rooms from the southern part of the city of Buenos Aires, which he described as a “ghost” after discovering irregularities in the delivery of more than 5,000 daily rations of food. He People’s Movement of Dignityresponsible for several of the affected companies, had denounced in the previous days, a “harassment campaign” against him and a Reduce the number of participants receive.
According to the decision of the head of Buenos Aires THE NATION According to the Department of Human Development and Habitat, he toured three affected facilities. In two of them, no operational dining room was registered., but in anotherlocated in Parque Chacabuco, just a few blocks from Villa 1-11-14, A food delivery network remains operational. In the center they denounce an unjustified reduction in aid, but the local administration warns that the responsible organization has failed to justify the destination of most of the rations received.
At the gate of “Olla Talleres” dining room.one of the “ghost canteens” on Zelarrayán Street at 1800, posted a handwritten sign that read: “The government has left 40 canteens without food. Jorge Macri takes charge.” It is the same claim that they repeat in the warehouse where the company operates. La Dignidad organization and that, as explained THE NATIONit worked Food distribution center for solo travelers and others Restaurants in the area like “La 29”. The latter is one of the four 1-11-14 bars in the city that the government has closed due to irregularities.
According to La Dignidad workers who were present when this medium visited, there were also people in the warehouse Activities for pensioners, craft workshops and school support courses for children are being developed.
workers of “Olla workshops” They claim that on November 25, the Buenos Aires government drastically cut the support it gave to the establishment. According to the documents that were taught THE NATION, They received 1,705 adult food rations before the announcement only 185 this monthwhich would have forced Switch from a daily assistance program to a weekly one.
The beneficiaries – many of the other affected soup kitchens in the nearby village – ask about a group of Whatsapp What day do they have to collect their rations? Each closed dining hall in the area has a different day and the rations – they explained – are distributed in the order they arrive until availability is exhausted.
In the Ministry of Human Development and Habitat, whose task is to implement the changes in the distribution of food aid, they explain that the decrease in the number of rations sent is due to this The organization was unable to justify such a large number of visitors to the dining room. This year the Macrista administration implemented the new digital system for beneficiary registration which, among other things, enables monitor in real time that the food sent is correctly allocated to those in need. The same person can pick up more than one plate of food if other members of the family group are registered in their name.
“There is strict and strict control that we carry out dailysupported by technology to ensure transparency at every stage of the process. No plate of food can end up with the wrong recipient, especially not in politics. “A fairer city is a city that knows exactly who it is helping.” said Human Development and Habitat Minister Gabriel Mraida.
Through this new digital system, the Buenos Aires government managed to identify themselves more than 5,000 unjustified daily food portions in 40 canteens. This process would later have led to Buenos Aires Ministry employees, led by Mraida, visiting the houses where the canteens operated, including “Olla Talleres”.
In response to the request from THE NATION, The ministry explained that the site was visited more than once, that there were no people waiting for their rations outside the warehouse, and that those who were were on the ground They did not allow government employees to enter for inspection. Nor were they provided with any forms or documents proving the influx of the beneficiaries they declared, which is why it was decided to limit the aid.
At the time when THE NATION He stayed in the dining room – about an hour and a half between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Friday – At least twelve people entered the dining roomsometimes accompanied by school-age children. In no case were people registered digitally or analogously. -on printed forms- before the food is removed. They just handed the Tupperware to one of the cooks, who filled with a portion of polenta and some breaded chicken medallions, and they left the place.
Gabriela, one of the people in charge of this dining room, confirmed this You do not use the city administration applicationbut that the flow of beneficiaries is constant. He explained that the place offers school support and snacks for minors in the afternoon and that he cooks lunch for everyone who comes to the place: from Workers from two cooperatives associated with the organization Homeless and City Residents 1-11-14 who previously visited other affected soup kitchens in the neighborhood.
Some people take more than one serving. A girl who approached during the visit of THE NATION He explained that he was collecting food for his entire family. There are ten members in total, including brothers, parents and children. His collection: two panpipes, among others Tupperware large polenta with just over a dozen palm-sized chicken medallions, five oranges and five apples. Nothing delivered was officially recorded. Without the ability to count or monitor, it is virtually impossible to determine the true extent of the dining room.
However, at other addresses where, according to the Ministry of Human Development and Habitat, irregular eaters were registered, No activity was recorded. In Corrales 3400, in Villa Schlachti, no object was found that could serve as a dining room during the stay White 21 (slaughterhouses), where the “Friends” facilityThe neighbors assured that they did not know that food was being delivered there.
There is one along these lines two-story private house. When THE NATION He rang the bell to see if a dining room was temporarily operating in one of the building’s rooms. A boy looked out from the terrace and denied that this was the case. The surrounding businesses also ruled out that this location offered any kind of food aid: They never saw anyone take food out of the house.
Even Juan Carlos, who frequently visits the area, didn’t know there was a dining room there. The last memory he has of any kind of food aid on this street is during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Mraida, especially at this time, the rapid spread of canteens made it difficult to control them.
From what Juan Carlos said THE NATIONin the small square in front of the given address, sometimes a Drawer with food rations inside that anyone could remove with the naked eye. As social isolation measures eased, even this precarious and disorderly care disappeared.
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