Cuban government begins to lease out waste lands

MEXICO CITY, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - Cuban leader Raul Castro issued a decree Friday to begin a lease out of fertile waste lands to organizations and individuals as a measure aimed at increasing the output of agricultural produce.
He also allowed retired teachers to return to the classrooms
"provisionally".
Plots of fertile waste land can be leased to government-controlled
agricultural and non-agricultural organizations, cooperative societies and private persons.
The decree says that the farmers will have an opportunity to use the land for the next ten years and the organizations will be able to do so for 25 years.
The applicants for lease who do not have any land at the moment are entitled to getting up to 13.42 hectares, while those who already own or rent land will be allotted the plots in a proportion that will not exceed the limit of total amount of land at one's disposal, set at 40.26 hectares.
If a leaser fails to start agricultural activity on the leased plot during a period of six months or will use it for other unspecified purposes, the government will take the plot back.
As for the retired teachers, they will have an opportunity to keep
their pensions along with their salaries when they return to schools.
Their current salaries will be computed on the basis of the
professional qualifications they had on the date of retirement.
Cuban authorities said the latter measure is a provisional one, as the general school system has a shortage of teachers at the moment.