The around 115 millimeters of rain that fell in the city of Las Tunas last Saturday, November 12, in just one hour, left a significant impact in various areas of the city.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Constituencies 20, 70, and 77, belonging to the popular councils 6 and 18 of the capital municipality are among the most affected. The main political and governmental authorities of the territory have turned their efforts toward the search for solutions for the inhabitants of those sites.
After several meetings in the neighborhoods, a dialogue between authorities of the province and the residents of the involved communities was held, to explain what will be done to prevent houses from flooding and the damages from multiplying.
In the opinion of Mirtha García Rojas, provincial delegate for Hydraulic Resources, the fact that we live in a dry region makes many people forget that rivers exist, and houses have been built for years in inappropriate spaces. However, the official insisted that this is not the time to look for culprits, but rather to promote the quality of life of people in their neighborhoods, and try to prevent construction in low-lying areas from proliferating.
Manuel Pérez Gallego, a member of the Central Committee and first secretary of the Party, opened the exchange by recalling that "you cannot continue wasting resources without real solutions" and called for "listening to the experience of those who live in the places to fix the problems."
They discussed the need to move the fuel tanks of the La Blanquita store, to review cases of people with houses in very low-lying areas, to attend to half-finished works, to listen to the experience of those who have been in these vicissitudes for more than 30 years, not to make decisions outside of specialists and to care; because nothing will be enough if social indiscipline reigns in the spaces and makes the dumping of waste, improper planting, and pens and breeding of other animals, the debacle of these settlements.
The dialogue flowed with solid criteria, far from empty promises and assigning each duty to the person or persons responsible for responding to the problems.
Now eyes and hands are on the job. Some have already started with the cleaning of the sites and the first assessments, others will require consultations and budgets at the national level, but collegial with the people and based on their most pressing needs.
