Cubans, especially residents of Matanzas province, are confident that the supertanker base, which was the target of an accident, will recover, although the magnitude of the damage and the ongoing investments are considerable.
By Roberto Morejón
Cubans, especially residents of Matanzas province, are confident that the supertanker base, which was the target of an accident, will recover, although the magnitude of the damage and the ongoing investments are considerable.
The enclave, where tankers deposit their cargo and has several fuel tanks, suffered a voracious fire on August 5, resulting in the death of 17 people and heavy material losses.
The incident, which kept Cubans in suspense for several weeks, destroyed four of the warehouses, buildings, electrical, telephone and road systems, forcing a titanic effort, first to control the flames and then to repair the damage.
Hundreds of workers and technicians are working in Matanzas while daylight allows them to return the devastated hydraulic, electrical and telephone infrastructure to normal and demolish burnt tanks.
The tasks are cumbersome, they are carried out in complex conditions, and it was indispensable to move workshops and laboratories damaged by the fire to other sites, in the midst of a great deployment of technical resources and specialists.
We are talking about removing twisted metals, adhered earth, waste and burnt oil, and a soil that initially acquired a dark color, although the tone has begun to fade with the progress of the work.
With the mission supervised by the country's top leaders, the Matanzas supertanker base is taking off towards a more developed and modern status, with the guarantee of having additional mechanisms to protect it from inclement weather and accidents.
The industrial settlement undergoes an important reconstruction for which the possible projects are being undertaken, thanks to which the commitment is already 60 percent fulfilled.
Witnesses of the dangerous fire confirm the evolution of the site, where President Miguel Díaz-Canel recently arrived.
The Head of State highlighted what he called the different aspect of the Matanzas industrial zone and revealed that experts are eradicating vulnerabilities.
Thus, after the painful accident, Cubans honor the memory of the deceased, to whom the population paid tribute, with the restoration of an industrial platform, important for energy security and the nation's economy.
