Housing repairs discussed
Cuban
Rada Read Spanish Versionr
Housing
repairs discussed
A
service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau
During
the past week, administrative councils of Popular Power in the
country’s 14 provinces and Isla de la Juventud Special Municipality
discussed the state of housing repairs in the aftermath of hurricanes
that ravaged the island in 2008.
According
to the Feb. 2 edition of Granma
daily,
"Of the 600,032 totally and partially damaged homes, 532,332 had
been victims of the impact of Gustav, Ike and Paloma, and the rest
pending from previous storms. Up to January 26, about 26 percent —
154,728 — had been repaired, basically the ones with partial or
total damages to the roofs, which have been the number one priority."
Víctor
Ramírez, president of the National Institute of Housing, pointed out
the need for concentration of efforts for the repair of more than
22,000 damages reported in apartment buildings and speeding up the
repair of roofs.
For
his part, Vice President Carlos Lage said that the recovery is not
being accomplished at the rate it should according to the resources
supplied. Lage also warned that in the municipalities there should be
a sufficient workforce, as well as building and organizational
ability in order to attain higher levels of execution.
Government
continues distribution of land
According
to Vice Minister of Agriculture Alcides López, idle land has been
turned over to 45,518 applicants and contracts have been signed with
40,138 of them. Up to the moment, 96,419 applications have been
received for a total of 657,896 hectares.
The
information was given by Vice Minister López at a nationwide meeting
with presidents of Administrative Councils of Popular Power, chaired
by Ricardo Alarcón, Speaker of the National Assembly of Popular
Power (parliament), and Carlos Lage, Vice President of the Council of
State.
On
the implementation of Decree-Law 259 that regulates the distribution
of idle land, Lage pointed out that it is an effort that requires
maximum attention and should be executed with the greatest promptness
and "no red tape."
While
almost half of the country’s arable land is idle, the country puts
out over $2 billion dollars a year in food imports.
Raúl
Castro in Angola
After
finishing his visit to Russia, considered a success by both parties
due to the signing of agreements that place bilateral relations at
their highest level, Cuban president Raúl Castro arrived in Angola
on February 4. The visit is in response to an invitation by Angolan
President José Eduardo Dos Santos.
Both
countries have excellent political and economic relations. It is
expected that several agreements will be signed during the visit by
President Castro.
Casa
de las Américas Prize
On
Monday, February 2, the jury of the distinguished Casa de las
Américas Literary Prize was presented to the public. Composed of 17
intellectuals from 10 countries, the jury will evaluate over 600
works presented. This year the prize coincides with Casa de las
Américas 50th anniversary.
The
opening speech was delivered by poet and essayist Roberto Fernández
Retamar, Casa’s president, who reminded all that "the lessons of
Haydée Santamaría (Casa’s founder) have not fallen on deaf ears. We
have been faithful to her in the only manner that would have pleased
her: by growing."
Casa
de las Américas was founded in April, 1959, and was headed by Haydee
Santamaría, an outstanding revolutionary who participated under
Fidel Castro’s lead on the attack on Moncada Barracks in July, 1953.
Cuban
petro-workers begin new task
The
first horizontal oil drilling by a Cuban enterprise proceeds normally
near the coastal town of Boca de Camarioca, at Matanzas province.
According
to the Radio Rebelde website, February 3 was the first time a Cuban
company drills an off-shore well from land six kilometers out, where
experts consider there are productive possibilities.
The
company expects to finish drilling the well called Varadero 1000 this
year, without help from foreign experts or leasing a costly sea
platform. Of course it is hard and difficult work, for they have to
master modern technology in order to guide the drill towards a
precise point. And above all, the work is being done a few kilometers
from the famous beach resort of Varadero.
Drilling
is controlled by special software and there is a strict fulfilling of
the 2001 Cuban standard ISO 9001, which covers all safety and
environmental measures.
For
the 15th
time, the Central Cuba Oil Enterprise expects to break its production
record of one million tons, part of which will be the results
attained on Varadero 1000.
