Environmental damage will be also minimized by the end of the year, said Lage, while noting the work being done in reforestation to recover the flora in the zones where mining takes place and the efforts to reduce gas emissions and the dumping of pollutants into rivers.

The Cuban VP began his tour of the province on Saturday with a visit to the city of Moa accompanied by Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia; Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguin; and Vivian Rodriguez Gordon, president of the Holguin Province legislature.

The vice president also visited the water pipeline project that runs east to west, designed to supply the population of Holguin and other nearby areas that are prone to extreme drought.

(ACN)