Cuban Government Help Hurricane Victims Rebuild
Telesur | Monday, 10 October 2016 | Click here for original article
Cuba managed to avoid any loss of life thanks to its hurricane preparedness strategy.
The Cuban government detailed finance plans to help people whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Matthew earlier this week.
Matthew reduced much of the Cuban town of Baracoa to rubble, whipping up giant waves that demolished cement buildings and winds that tore off roofs.
Cuba successfully implemented its hurricane preparedness strategy, which includes a rigorous evacuation scheme, and managed to avoid any loss of life.
Neighbouring Haiti, which has been impoverished due to decades of foreign intervention, was witness to nearly 900 deaths in the wake of the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean in nearly a decade.
Locals in the town of Baracoa are reeling from the loss of their homes.
Cuban President Raul Castro toured the area and met with local officials. Raul Castro himself presided over the meeting to asses the impact of the storm and efforts to provide relief.
Later the government released a finance plan to help people rebuild which was also read on state television.
"The revolutionary government has decided the state budget will finance 50 percent of the costs of construction materials it will sell to the people whose homes were completely or partially destroyed," the government statement said.
"The victims can ask for bank credits, which will be given with lower interest rates and more time to pay. In the case of completely destroyed homes and roofs, the state budget will pay the interest. Those whose income is not enough to get a bank credit maintain the right to solicit a partial or complete grant from the Municipal Defense Council that is completely covered by the state," a news presenter continued reading the government statement.
