Hurricane Irma Damaged over 200 Cuban Cultural Centers

Havana.- The fury of Hurricane Irma caused damage to 211 cultural institutions in Cuba, said today the Ministry of Culture.

According to deputy minister of Culture Guillermo Solenzar, 14 provinces in the country reported damages in this field, the most serious were reported in Villa Clara, Camaguey, Matanzas, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus and Havana.

Solenzar said that the priority at this stage is to recover as soon as possible educational centers so that they resume the school year no later than next Monday, except in two art schools, in Matanzas and Camaguey, because they need further resources and a longer recovery works.

He said that damages range from very slight to serious, caused by strong gusts of wind, rainfall, fallen trees and surging sea water.

Some of the centers severely damaged were the warehouse of supplies of the Music Record Company of Cienfuegos, the oldest in Cuba, a library in Ciego de Avila that lost 80 percent of resources and the warehouse of the Provincial Book Center in that south central province of Cuba.

In Havana, the circus Trompoloco, headquarters of the National Circus and the International Circuba Festival, was seriously damaged, as well as the headquarters of the Spanish Ballet of Cuba, which lost much of the roof.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Culture Fernando Rojas highlighted the efforts of artists and writers to bring a message of solidarity to those evacuated and to the Cuban municipalities most damaged by hurricane Irma.

Source: PL