HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 1 (acn) Shortly after concluding a tour on different Havana municipalities affected by a tornado last Sunday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel led yesterday night the meeting of the Council of Ministers held since last Monday to lead the process of recovery in the capital.
Díaz-Canel highlighted the qualities of our people and recognized the atmosphere of tranquility and industriousness that can be seen in the streets. "We must continue giving information to the population, taking care of and visiting them," he said.
The procedure that must be followed by those who wish to make donations to avoid confusion in this respect must be explained well, by all possible means.
Likewise, he drew attention on the need to continue identifying premises that can be converted into houses and thus contribute to streamline the restitution of several dwellings.
The offices of procedures for the acquisition of construction materials, he said, must be ready so that, without violating any procedure, work with the promptness required.
René Mesa Villafaña, Minister of Construction, said that so far there are 2,699 affected houses, 342 out of them are completely destroyed.
He assured that 19 outlets of construction materials were fully enabled yesterday and added that the collection of debris in affected areas should conclude this weekend.
It was also reported that brigades made up by workers from different agencies and entities, as well as young people from the Federation of High School Students (FEEM) and the Federation of University Students (FEU) have joined these tasks.
Raul Garcia Barreiro, Minister of Energy and Mines, confirmed that electric service in the municipality of Guanabacoa was restored yesterday; and in the case of Regla and Diez de Octubre, it was reported that more than 70% of customers already have electric power, which must be restored entirety today.
The Minister of Public Health, Jose Angel Portal, noted that the epidemiological situation is kept under control and vector control measures have been put into practice in the affected areas.
In general, progress is being made in the recovery of telephone services and the sources of water supply to the population remain stable, including distribution through tankers.