Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the southern municipality of Batabanó, in the province of Mayabeque to evaluate the damages caused by Hurricane Michael at the beginning of the week.

Diaz-Canel said this visit was also timely to analyze the solution to old problems in the territory. In his tour of the port terminal, the President spoke of the need to use the experiences put into practice in the ports of Santiago de Cuba and Mariel to improve this port, located some 40 kilometers south of Havana city.

He also told the local government authorities to work on the improvement of the catamaran terminal, which links the main island to Isle of Youth.

In one of the streets of the popular council of Surgidero de Batabanó, still affected by the floods caused by Michael, Díaz-Canel spoke with residents about the problems of drainage of the territory, stating that, in any eventuality the need for the population to understand that it is not possible to build houses close to the coast; and the plans to change the image of the municipality.

There, a woman who had received a subsidy to build her house commented to the President about the hardships she faced to acquire construction materials because, she asserted, they are monopolized by resellers. Immediately Diaz-Canel indicated that he would respond to the complaint because he said the actions that the State carries out for the benefit of the neediest cannot be allowed to end up favoring a few unscrupulous people.

The visit continued with the Camilo Cienfuegos Industrial Fishing Company, where he spoke with several fishermen who were supplying their boats to go out to sea, after several days without being able to do so due to weather conditions. Afterwards, he also toured the processing plant.

The itinerary of the President of the Councils of State and Ministers also included the Furniture Company Signo, where, in addition to visiting their workshops and greeting the workers, held a meeting with authorities of the Party and Government of the province of Mayabeque and the municipality of Batabanó, which was also attended by the first vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, Salvador Valdes Mesa, several ministers and deputy ministers.

The first secretary of the Party in the province, Yanina de la Nuez Aclich, reported on the work carried out in the territory to successfully face the weather situation caused by Hurricane Michael. She specified that the most complicated scenario occurred in Batabanó due to the penetration of the sea. In the province, she said, 113 people were evacuated, almost all in family homes and added that three houses had collapsed.

The Cuban President described as immediate and decisive the response that should be given to the issue of drainage in the municipality because "we have to put ourselves in the place of the inhabitants and face the problem with sensitivity.

He urged the use of new technologies to improve the municipality's roads, such as adocrete, economic material, of high resistance and rapid installation; improve the services offered; do everything with good taste; and, fundamentally, involve the inhabitants in the effort to improve the environment in which they live.