Cuban western municipality continues working on its recovery after hurricane Rafael's passage

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 20 (ACN) Following Hurricane Rafael's passage through western Cuba, the municipality of Güira de Melena, in the province of Artemisa, one of the hardest hit by the extreme hydrometeorological event, reported significant losses in the agricultural sector, which has recovered to reach production levels similar to those prior to the impact of the phenomenon.

Abelardo Alvarez Silva, president of the Antero Regalado Credit and Services Cooperative (CCS) in that territory, explained to the Cuban News Agency that Rafael arrived in a period when preparations for the cold season were facing several challenges, with ideal conditions not yet in place for its launch, and the cyclone came to put an end to what had been done up to that point.

Despite this situation, he noted that there was a willingness and determination to recover from the outset on the part of the country's leadership, the Party, the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Association of Small Farmers to guarantee the necessary resources to recover from the damage.

He commented that this recovery was possible thanks mainly to the farmers' response, since without being able to provide them with all the required supplies, they united around the desire and will to move forward.

Today the cooperative has fulfilled all the plans it had conceived up to late April, with indicators similar to those prior to the passage of the storm.

The Antero Regalado cooperative is the second smallest in the municipality and has managed to sell almost 100 million pesos in the first four months of the year.

During this period, sales to tourism, industry, and social consumption have been fulfilled, and these results support the efforts made, he added.

According to information provided by Cuban authorities, as a result of the impact of hurricanes Oscar and Rafael, losses were reported in 37,000 hectares (ha) of land dedicated to agricultural production, as well as in 381 agricultural facilities, with considerable economic damage to the sector and preliminary loss estimates of around 383 million pesos.