The people of Guantanamo are in danger of being cut off

Writing CubitaNOW ~ Saturday, May 6, 2023

A bridge in the municipality of Maisí has ​​been awaiting repair for the past six years, while resources are spent every hurricane season to repair a dangerous speed barrier that would allow it to connect to the eastern side.

Local newspaper come across He reviewed what oblivion the site had undergone.

“In the gay community of the municipality of Maisí, six years and seven months seem too long for the bridge over the Caleta River to remain unrepaired,” the newspaper noted in a clear warning to authorities.

In an article in that media, they explain, “The 72-meter-long causeway, built in 2005 with the aim of maintaining road connections with the eastern part of Cuban municipalities, is subject to occasional river flooding.”

But in 2016, the link was completely destroyed: “Sea waves caused by Hurricane Matthew’s passage through the area undermined the eastern end of the bridge in October 2016, and as a result, traffic through it was blocked,” he points out. Note.

In this regard, to prevent the isolation of the site they have “constructed a temporary detour or breakwater, which, despite being damaged on several occasions by the waves of the Caribbean Sea, has since been maintained and then rebuilt. , with the consequent cost of resources”.

But it will be seven years before the “temporary” construction becomes an official track. The Provincial Highway Center told reporter Jorge Luis Merencio Godin that there is no cement for repairs.

“The lack of this construction resource is currently pronounced, so that the company does not receive a single ton of the 190 approved per year by the Ministry of Economy and Planning,” said Merenzio Godin.

Before the start of the rainy season, the correspondent fears the worst: “The Caleta bridge is strategically important for the province and especially for Maisi and Baracoa: in case of traffic interruption through La Farola (there is a possibility of landslides and rocks in that area due to the rains) the Cajopabo-La Maquina road is an alternative to the land link between Guantanamo and Baracoa. But what will happen if the Caleda River swells and destroys the bypass now that the rainy season has started?

The journalist recalled the failed repair attempt, “An attempt was made to repair the footbridge by 2021, but due to lack of cement, only part of the foundation of the eastern abutment was implemented. “Meanwhile, the area’s salinity is corroding the exposed steel, and if it continues, what has been done will have to be demolished,” he warns.

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