FLORIDA, CAMAGÜEY.- This Sunday, the people of Camagüey, who are proud to call themselves Floridians, will be delighted. To the celebrations for the end of the year and a new anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, the memory of the constitution of its terroir will precede, as "municipal term" on December 15, 1924.
Actually, the coming and going caused by the preparations began several days ago; and it is of such magnitude that not only the locals have noticed it, but also the visitors and travelers who pass through there.
“On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the constitution of Florida as a municipality and of the Day of Florida Culture, we have developed a resuscitation program in important places such as the José Martí Park, the city boulevard, the card where the fact is remembered history of December 15, and the rest of the most important facilities and establishments of our municipality; in continuity also with the actions that were undertaken last year when the territory was the provincial headquarters of the celebrations for July 26, ”says Beatriz Rodríguez Fernández, president of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power in the demarcation.
The simple monument to which the leader refers is located in what is possibly the most central place in Florida - the intersection of Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez streets - very close to the headquarters of the current municipal government and in front of the mentioned José park Martí, just over 50 kilometers from the city of Camagüey.
From there, not only the celebration program for the 95 years of the fact that turned Florida into a municipality is directed, but also the essential details of the daily life of some 75,000 Floridians, spread over the territory that today covers about 1 760 square kilometers.
Photos: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva / Adelante
TELL THAT ...
“The name of the municipality is due to the Florida farm, from which 200 land cavalries were taken to build the first urbanization at the beginning of the 20th century,” says M.Sc. Márgara Fernández Cervantes, historian of the town. However, as he later explained, the history of Florida is not limited to that year of the constitution in the 1920s:
“About 11 kilometers from the current municipal seat, the settlement of San Jerónimo was founded at the end of the 16th century, which had a marked development from the 18th century. The town was one of the most important in this region of Camagüey, but it had been totally devastated because of the effects of the wars of independence of the 19th century. ”
“In 1900 the central railroad and the first wood sawmills were built to build houses, as this was a wooded area. That was the cause of the final decline of the town of San Jerónimo and the beginnings of what would later be the municipality of Florida. Five sugar mills are built between 1914 and 1916, which contributed to the economic development of the entire region. ”
“In the year 1924, the House of Representatives approves the creation of the municipality of Florida, integrated by the neighborhoods of San Jerónimo and Magarabomba. On December 15, the official act of inauguration of its first mayor and its councilors takes place. From that stage, Florida had a considerable development in its culture, the press, the architecture and the economy ”, concludes the director of the Florida Municipal Museum.
GREAT REASONS TO CELEBRATE
Today, Florida's main economic lines are agricultural productions, as well as the sugar industry:
“It is a municipality with an important weight in food production, both in the province and nationally, for rice, various crops, milk and beef, as well as cane. It is the only municipality in the country with two sugar refineries. We have a sorbitol plant, also the only one in Cuba. In addition, we have a mill and two rice dryers in the south, a combined fishing, among many other centers of the food industry ”, argues the president of the Municipal Assembly Beatriz Rodríguez Fernández
“We must finish 2019 by fulfilling the milk delivery plan to the industry. In addition, we have great satisfaction: the Ignacio Agramonte refinery arrived, for the first time in its history, at 60,000 tons of refined sugar, ”says Rodríguez Fernández.
About the epic, says the engineer Lázaro Delgado Jiménez, director of the UEB Central Azucarero Ignacio Agramonte, which at the end of November had already reached 63 221 tons, of an original annual plan of 60 020 tons.
"The sugar will be destined for the population and the industries, fundamentally of Camagüey and other provinces like Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Havana, that could not fulfill their productions", affirms the engineer.
But the feats do not seem to end there: “For the 2019-2020 harvest we plan to refine 56,020 tons of raw sugar. Some 3,500 tons are planned for the small harvest and that figure is already reached this Thursday. The last days of December we would dedicate them to refine, with the authorization of the Sugar Company, some 7,000 tons that Camagüey lacks to comply with the plan of the province ”, concludes Delgado Jiménez.
THE 26-7 DONATED ITS IMPULSE
The celebrations for the 95th anniversary of the declaration of Florida as a municipality, also implies additional efforts to the daily ones: “In the constructive order, we are working with great intensity in the completion of the North Polyclinic, one of the works that were pending on the occasion of the ephemeris of July 26 of last year, ”Beatriz Rodríguez Fernández, in charge of the Government of the territory, told Adelante digital.
At the head of the Municipal Directorate of Public Health is Dr. Nelson del Sol Serrallonga, who is also a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power. He corroborates that, in effect, the new headquarters of the North Polyclinic will be inaugurated next Sunday, one of the two that Floridians have; In addition to two territorial hospitals for the adult and child population of three municipalities, as well as two nursing homes, two grandparents' houses, two stomatological clinics and a maternal home.
"In 2019, this work demanded a cost of 300,000 pesos in repair and maintenance, and in non-clinical real estate it amounted to 100,000 pesos in national currency and almost 80,000 convertible pesos," said the municipal director of Health.
“Through the North Polyclinic, medical care is provided to some 35,000 inhabitants of the municipality. In its new headquarters, a consultation of each of the medical specialties will be offered every week, which will reduce the waiting time of the population. In addition, because of its new location, people will be able to access services in an easier way, ”says the deputy doctor.
In truth, History has been good with Florida, if you consider the stage after 1959. As your president, Beatriz Rodríguez Fernández said, “there is no comparison between what Florida was when it was established as a municipality and nowadays". That is the main reason for Sunday celebrations in the Florida land of southwest Camagüey.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez
