Support for henequen workers a reality

“We are now being taken into account,” say the recipients

Ebaristo Kantún Negrón knows the henequen plant like the palm of his hand. Now 68 years old, he has traveled across the Yucatan since he was an eight-year-old boy, planting and harvesting the plant of henequen, that has allowed him to provide for his family.

As he has done for more than half a century, Ebaristo arrived at dawn at the plantation, located in the municipality of Bokobá, Yucatán, to carry out his work on the six hectares that he has managed to get through with a lot of sacrifice and hours of work under the sun.

For him, knowing that the henequen producers, after being forgotten for a long time and receiving minimal and inconstant support, are finally taken into account, represents a great relief; thanks to the support of the state government, he now sees his crops grow and his production improve little by little.

During his visit to the henequen plant, governor Mauricio Vila Dosal spoke with Ebaristo and six of his colleagues, who had the opportunity to express their main needs, as well as the challenges they face every day to move forward with their crops.

“I am very happy to see him here because no governor has done what he is doing right now, which is to provide support to the henequeneros, and to come to visit us, right here at our land,” said Ebaristo.

“Plantations like ours are now being supported with plans like the Henequen Weight per Kilo Fiber. Unlike previous administrations, the governor is coming to listen to us. We are grateful for the support” said the henequeneros.

“The money that the government gives us for the fiber helps us maintain our land because we have to work for it,” one of the henequeneros added.

According to the statement, this state administration is allocating unprecedented resources to boost henequen production.

On Wednesday Feb. 19, Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal made a working tour of Bokobá, where he delivered economic incentives, equipment and tools for 4.7 million pesos, to 959 henequen producers, to help them raise this activity so representative of Yucatan and that for many years was the pride of the state.

The Yucatan Times
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