Cuban VP reasserts support to the province of Pinar del Río

PINAR DEL RÍO, Cuba, Aug 9 (ACN) “Despite all our difficulties, [the province of] Pinar del Río is not alone in its struggle to recover from the effects of Hurricane Ian,” Cuban vice president Salvador Valdés Mesa stressed.

At a meeting with local authorities, he made an appeal to make as much progress as possible this year regarding the most complex issue, which is housing, as many people are still living in temporary facilities.

According to provincial governor Eumelín González Sánchez, only 39% of the 102,288 homes damaged by Ian have been fixed, whereas 170 of the 477 schools affected by the hurricane remain to be repaired.

Valdés Mesa pointed out the need to boost construction material production using local resources and to get the infrastructure back on its feet. “The success of the Revolution’s social policy is contingent on the economy, on the solution to structural problems, and on effective management methods,” he underscored.

He also learned that the province is still 320 power generators short, which tampers with the agricultural irrigation and water supply systems, and that the province must build some 4,000 tobacco curing barns to replace the ones destroyed by Ian and thus cover harvest needs.