Around 600 citizens of Podgorica who receive food through the Soup Kitchen welcomed the holidays with canned food instead of a hot meal.
The Secretariat for Social Welfare told "Boje jutra" on Television Vijesti that they were unable to provide gas during the holidays, but that the problem has been resolved.
However, while authorities claim that the situation has normalized and that cooked food is back on the menu, some of the users who receive meals at their home addresses are still waiting.
For hundreds of citizens of Podgorica, the Soup Kitchen is not just social assistance – it is the only meal of the day. However, they spent the holidays without a hot meal. They ate canned food for days.
"In the previous period and previous years, whenever there were holidays and Sundays, there was dry food and the beneficiaries know that and are always informed in advance, as they were this time. It's just that this year the holidays coincided in the way they did and it was simply not possible to organize for all the food to be cooked. We distribute around 600 meals here on a daily basis. That's a serious job, so what happened in the first 11 days of this year is now over. As of today, as you can see, the food has been cooked and from today onwards, since of course everything has returned to normal, so has the public kitchen," Stefan Vešović, secretary of the Secretariat for Social Welfare of the Capital City, told "Boje jutra".
However, for customers who have their meals delivered to their home addresses, the situation has not yet returned to normal.
The Food Bank states that they have been contacted by a large number of beneficiaries who only had bread and pate for lunch yesterday, and that they were told that they would have to wait until January 15th for hot meals.
Although some users complained about the dry food, there are also those who point out that they are satisfied with both the quantity and quality of the meals they receive.
Until now, the meals were prepared by the "Sergije Stanić" Secondary Vocational School, and the novelty is that now the city company "Tržnice i pijace" is taking over that job.
"Markets and markets have changed their statutes, among other things we have added food production and kitchen services, so that was verified at the assembly and here we are, since January 1st we have taken over this job and are working on it and the plan is to improve the operations and services of the Soup Kitchen in general. The main thing is that the systematization of jobs is underway, so it will be completed as soon as possible," said Ivan Bojović, director of "Markets and Markets".
"In this facility we are in, we have a very well-equipped kitchen, one that has the potential to be one of the best in Podgorica in general, which has never worked. So, today is the first day that this kitchen has been put into full use. Although a lot of money has been invested in building and making this. Simply put, this facility has served as a counter for distributing food. And the things that happened in the previous period, years ago regarding the Soup Kitchen, simply did not give us the right to be completely satisfied with it," said Vešović.
The Capital City says that the goal is for the Soup Kitchen to function stably in the coming period, with regular preparation of cooked meals and better use of existing capacities. They also say that such periods, in which beneficiaries received exclusively dry food, will no longer occur, not even during holidays.
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