Havana, Dec. - The Prime Minister of Cuba, Manuel Marrero, urged the acceleration of recovery efforts following the passage of Hurricane Melissa through the eastern part of the country, local media report.
During a meeting to review the progress of the recovery, chaired by the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Marrero emphasized the need to prioritize the restoration of damaged housing in this process.
Likewise, the head of government demanded maintaining "exhaustive control" over the materials delivered for these tasks, according to reports published in Granma and Juventud Rebelde.
The review was attended by several ministers and included appearances by the governors of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Granma, Las Tunas, and Holguín—provinces affected by the meteorological phenomenon—who provided explanations of the situations in their respective territories.
In addition to the construction and repair of homes, efforts in localities damaged by Melissa's impact are aimed at increasing food production and restoring basic services, according to the press accounts.
Both newspapers highlight the intervention of the Minister of Health, José Angel Portal, who explained that "of the 710 institutions affected in the five provinces, 185 have already been recovered, 27 of them in the past week."
"At this moment, actions are taking place in 29; the main damages are concentrated in carpentry, false ceilings, and leakages," Portal assured, according to the sources.
He also stated that "active screening of the population in those provinces has increased, with special emphasis on risk groups," and that "anti-vector actions are being intensified" to prevent an epidemiological crisis in the region.
In the meeting, held the previous afternoon, "the situation manifesting" in areas of Villa Clara affected by heavy rains over the last weekend was followed up.
The governor of that central Cuban province, Milaxy Yanet Sánchez, reported that "in just a few hours, more than 253 millimeters of rain accumulated, causing severe flooding in communities in the municipalities of Sagua la Grande and Cifuentes."
She explained that "753 people were evacuated, the vast majority to the homes of relatives, neighbors, or friends," and reported damage to road infrastructure, among other impacts.
(With information from Prensa Latina)
