Cuba subsidizes home materials for Sandy victims

Posted on Thursday, 11.08.12

Cuba subsidizes home materials for Sandy victims
The Associated Press

HAVANA -- The Cuban government will offer subsidies and loans to help
islanders rebuild the more than 200,000 homes damaged by Hurricane
Sandy, official newspapers said Thursday.

Beginning next week Cubans affected by Sandy can buy building materials
at half-price, according to an official notice published by the
Communist party daily Granma and other papers.

Residents of the eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin and Santiago
can also seek bank credits to rebuild, and those who lack sufficient
income can apply for further subsidies up to the entire cost of the
materials.

"The government made the decision for the budget of the State to
establish a subsidy of 50 percent of the current prices for construction
materials that will be sold to families whose homes were totally or
partially destroyed," the notice read.

Sandy hit the island near the eastern city of Santiago on Oct. 25 as a
category 2 hurricane, killing 11 people, crumbling homes, tearing off
rooftops, toppling utility poles and knocking out power to hundreds of
thousands of people.

There has been no concrete figure on economic losses, but officials have
said 226,000 homes were damaged and have talked about
multimillion-dollar hits to crops, industry, hospitals and schools.

Earlier this week the U.N.'s World Food Program said Sandy could be the
most devastating storm to hit that part of Cuba in at least a
half-century, and announced a food aid program to provide a month's
worth of rations to 500,000 people.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/08/3087820/cuba-subsidizes-home-materials.html