Havana, September 9 (RHC) - President Raul Castro has issued instructions for the setting up of joint municipal task-forces that could assist the electrical linemen brigades in the repairing of power grids affected across Cuba by the winds of Hurricane Irma.

Raúl, who in his capacity as president also heads the National Defense Council, ordered that the joint municipal contingents be entrusted with jobs like cleaning sites and pruning trees as well as carrying and replacing fallen utility poles, so that the brigades of linemen could concentrate on the specialized jobs.

The idea, said Raul in his instructions, is that damage inflicted on the power lines can be more quickly repaired so that power is restored in the shortest possible time, for the well-being of the population and the resumption of economic life.

Hurricane Irma has had a strong impact on the electrical infrastructure practically all over Cuba, which makes it difficult to concentrate specialized linemen brigades in particular regions, as has been the practice after other hurricanes that have hit the island.