Raul Castro: We’ve Had a Huge Hurricane in Oriente, and a Little Flora in Central Cuba

In Sancti Spiritus, Raul met with José R. Monteagudo and Teresita Romero, president and vice president, respectively, of the Provincial Defense Council.“We could say that we have had a huge hurricane in Oriente, and a little Flora in the center of the country”, said Army General Raul Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, and president of the Councils of State and Ministers, during a work tour of the central Cuban territories, which were recently hit by heavy rains due to hurricane Sandy.

“We didn’t want to leave for Oriente without visiting the central provinces”, said the Cuban president, when meeting with top leaders from Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus, the two central territories which were most affected by the rain.

Immediately after his arrival in Sancti Spiritus, last Saturday evening, Raul and the top officials accompanying him, held a meeting with Jose R. Monteagudo and Teresita Romero, president and vice president, respectively, of the Provincial Defense Council.

Monteagudo described the situation in the province as stable and said that the main danger was associated with the large volume of water that the Zaza dam received from Villa Clara within hours, so sluiceways had to the opened to the maximum level allowed, and thousands of people living downstream had top be evacuated. He added that the damages caused by the hurricane to agriculture were not significant and that the province can recover from them as well as from damages in other sectors. He stressed their purpose of fulfilling the province’s rice production plan this year.

Raul took an interest in the progress of production in Banao and other areas in Sancti Spiritus and referred to the considerable effort that is necessary to carry out in the interests of cleaning, especially works in the aqueduct and sewage systems.

 

(Sources: Juventud Rebelde and ACN)-