Update on Recovery Efforts in Cuba
Meeting of National
Defense Council, November 9, 2024
A November 12 report from Granma International titled "A frontal assault against the effect of hurricanes and earthquakes" informs on the work of Cuba's National Defense Council in recovery efforts. Granma reports on a meeting the Council held on November 11:
"The
President of the National Defense Council (CDN), Miguel
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, highlighted the intense work being
carried out in Granma and Santiago de Cuba provinces in response to the
effects of Sunday's earthquakes, in the proximities of Pilón;
the work being waged in
Artemisa, Havana and Mayabeque to recover from Hurricane Rafael; and
the work being carried out by Guantánamo's people to erase the
traces of Hurricane Oscar.
"In view of the current seismic situation, special measures have been adopted in Santiago de Cuba for this whole week, including the amplification of information to the population, in which, after overcoming the psychological effect of the tremor south of Pilón, the perception of danger is decreasing, informed the first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Party, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia." She also emphasized the necessity to remain alert, Granma informs.
She informed that the National Center for Seismological Research (Cenais) has registered more than 1,130 aftershocks, more than 50 of them perceptible to humans.
"According to preliminary data, in Santiago de Cuba, more than 230 houses were affected by the earthquake in the municipalities closest to the epicenter. Damages are reported in some state, educational and health institutions, among others," she said.
Dealing with the damages caused by hurricane Raphael in Artemisa, November 9, 2024
Jorge Luis Broche Lorenzo, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, presented information about the situation in Granma province. He highlighted the organized response that the political and government authorities of the province have given in the face of the earthquake. The work of the members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), the Ministry of the Interior, Public Health, the Electrical Union and the rest of the institutions has been exemplary.
"In Granma province they have acted with professionalism and speed in the face of this unexpected event of great magnitude," he said.
The President of the Provincial Defence Council in Artemisa, Gladys Martínez Verdecia gave an update of the situation in that province. She said that more than 5,700 people had had their electricity restored; that 60 per cent of the population had access to telephone land lines restored, and 40 per cent had cellphone service restored. Meanwhile, running water had been restored to 17 per cent of the population.
"We can already see some progress," said. She also reported on the restoration of Public Health facilities, the distribution of food, on the work in agriculture where work brigades are being incorporated to help in the recovery of the irrigation machines.
Dealing with damage to irrigation machinery, Artemisa, November 12, 2024
Among other information, Martínez Verdecia pointed out that 4,000 square metres of zinc roof tiles and 60 tons of cement will arrive in the province shortly.
In
Mayabeque province, also in western Cuba, the report informed that the
electrical grid had been 77 per cent restored, although the
municipality of Quivicán was still completely without power.
Regarding the reestablishment of communications, the president of Mayabeque's Provincial Defence Council, Yuniasky Crespo Baquero, commented that in spite of the efforts made, there is still not as much progress as desired. The situation is still complex as concerns the water supply, he said.
President Díaz-Canel inquired about the sanitation work in the towns and municipalities, as well as about the progress of the work to reestablish the water service.
He was informed that in Havana, some 90 people continued to shelter in 11 institutions; that 850 houses were affected; and that electricity was about 90 per cent restored.
The people of Cuba "have accomplished real feats," the Secretary of the Communist Party in charge of Organization, Roberto Morales Ojeda, said.
President Díaz-Canel stated that the most important thing at this point is to complete the most complicated part of the recovery. It is very important to focus on the issues of water and electricity, since there are people who have already been without those services for four days, he said.
"I believe that a lot of work has been done in these days," Díaz-Canel said, emphasizing the need to continue making efforts to mitigate the damage in the shortest possible time. The President has himself visited the sites which suffered the most damage and witnessed the great effort being carried out by the population including the youth and students and working people in every sector of the economy, as well as the Armed Forces and Civil Defense.
The
fact that the population is kept abreast of all the recovery efforts
and specific challenges the skilled personnel repairing the electric
grid face, and that the people are fully involved in the clean up and
repair efforts and in making sure their neighbours have the food,
water, health care
and everything they need, instills confidence in the people. Far from
the people's experience giving credence to the claims of the Biden
administration that Cuba's difficulties are due to the government's
economic mismanagement, the words spoken by President Díaz-Canel
to the television
station Telesur when asked what he wanted to say to the world, are inspiring.
"[...] unlike [what was said by] many people in the international press who wanted to show that Cuba was in a total collapse, we are standing, we are fighting and we are going to get out of this as we have gotten out of others, and we are going to get out because there are the young people committed to their Revolution, to their people, there are the people and there are the Revolutionary Armed Forces: that unity that we have, which is very difficult to see in the whole world, is the reason for our victories," Díaz-Canel said.
Working to
overcome
damage done to crops, in particular bananas and cassava, by
the
hurricane.
This article was published in
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/ITN2024/Articles/TI54483.HTM
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