Artemisa, Cuba - Roberto Morales Ojeda, vice-president of the Councils of State and Ministers, attended on Thursday the opening of a modern Weather Station in the Special Development Zone in Mariel (ZEDM), in the province of Artemisa.

The start-up of the plant constitutes a scientific strength for Artemisa province and the country, said Morales Ojeda in statements to the Cuban News Agency.

It is also a stronghold for the institutions located in the ZEDM, for the contribution of new surveillance and early warning systems and for the results that will help decision making in favor of the health of the population, the economy and its entities.

Morales Ojeda also confirmed the intention to continue expanding the weather station network, starting with the provincial centers and the eight operational and modernizing radars.

Elba Rosa Perez Montoya and Jose Angel Portal Miranda, ministers of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) and Public Health (MINSAP), respectively, and other officials also participated in the ceremony.

PhD. Celso Pazos Alberdi, Director General of the Meteorology Institute, said that, apart from the meteorological, the station also includes seismological and radiological investigations and will be a working site for entities of the Environment Agency, with a view to improving environmental monitoring.

The plant is fully automated, has calibrated sensors and high technology to measure the atmospheric pressure variables, air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind direction and speed, and solar radiation.

Cuba has a total of 68 meteorological stations and Artemisa has three in the municipalities of Bauta, Bahia Honda and Guira de Melena.