-DATE-
19880912
-YEAR-
1988
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
REMARKS
-AUTHOR-
F.CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
VISITED EXPANSION WORK - MIGUEL HENRIQUEZ HOSP
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA TELE-REBELDE
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19880913
-TEXT-
Further on Castro Remarks

FL1209180588 Havana Tele-Rebelde Network in Spanish 1144 GMT 12 Sep 88

[Text]  Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, first secretary of the PCC
Central Committee and president of the Councils of State and Ministers,
visited yesterday the expansion work at the Miguel Henriquez Hospital in
Havana.  During his visit, the commander in chief chatted with our
construction workers [words indistinct].

[Begin recording] [Castro]  Good afternoon, [a group of construction
workers answers:  "Good afternoon, Commander"]  How are you?  [Video shows
Castro walking outside building under construction along with a group of
workers; they are applauding]  How are things going?  [workers answer:
"Fine"  I came to see the project.  [Words indistinct]  I believe we are
going to have more than enough time left.

[Unidentified worker]  No way.

[Castro]  Are things through?

[Worker]  Yes

[Castro]  How pretty those [words indistinct] look!  Where did they make
those panels?

[Worker]  [Words indistinct]

[Castro]  Then not everything is done poorly by the prefabricated panel
plants?

[Worker]  Those are of very good quality.

[Castro]  They are doing some good things.

[Worker]  This was the first time they were used in this way [words
indistinct].

[Castro]  How are those decorations done?  What are they called?

[Worker]  [Words indistinct]

[Castro]  [Words indistinct]  Were these done especially for this hospital?

[Worker]  Yes, especially for this hospital.

[Castro]  But we could use it....

[Worker, interrupting]  In other hospitals.  Our goals is... [changes
thought] because this was done, tests were carried out with white cement to
see if we could do this in other hospitals....

[Castro, interrupting]  Is this the best white cement we have or....

[Worker, interrupting]  This is the best one we have.  It is good quality
white cement.

[Castro]  This is the best one we have.  There are some stains there.
[indistinct remarks of workers talking simultaneously]

[Worker]  We wanted to see how the panel reacts....

[Castro, interrupting]  So that you don't have to paint it.

[Worker]  So that we do not have to paint the next projects.

[Unidentified reporter]  How is this experience going to be used elsewhere?
The contingent is planning to join...

[Castro, interrupting]  Let me tell you that they are doing the same thing
at the Albarran.

[Worker]  It is going to be completed by December.

[Castro]  Many other projects are doing the same thing.  The Blas Roca
contingent is building the east-west highway in a year.  Not the east-west,
up to 100th Street, the portion that was assigned to them.  The whole thing
could be paved with asphalt.  The whole thing could have been paved with
asphalt.  But we were more ambitious and wanted to pave it with cement.  We
had to get equipment for this.  We acquired machinery that will arrive at
the end of the year.  This is why, by the end of the year--three lanes will
be paved by the end of the year.  Not totally paved, but half of it.  But
since cement will also go on top, we didn't want to waste asphalt.  We are
going to pave three lanes with asphalt so we can begin using the highway in
December.

[Reporter]  Is the fourth bridge ready?

[Castro]  The fourth bridge is ready.  I can see that you are well
informed.  We had to start carrying out a political-social operation called
the conquering of space.

[Reporter, interrupting]  Caballero [not further identified] told me a lot
about it.

[Castro]  The space over the land.  You have heard about it already?  The
vast majority were happy because they lived in pretty poor conditions and
they were provided with new apartments.  The residents of the areas next to
them were asking if there were any plans for their area, if it was going to
be extended to their area.  In general, it wasn't very difficult.  There
were very few people--nobody had to be evicted.

[Unidentified speaker]  Only three, only three [repeats himself] offered
resistance.

[Castro]  Three resisted a little when the eviction decree was prepared.
What are we going to do?  We are not going to stop this enormous project,
such an important project, of such social importance.  We could not do
this.

[Reporter]  Twelve operating rooms

[Castro]  Twelve.  Frank Pais has--how many does it have?  It has 15.

[Reporter]  Fifteen.

[Castro]  Have you also been there?

[Reporter]  At the Frank Pais?  Yes.

[Castro]  I believe it is going to be completed by the end of this month.
That's what they say.  [laughter]  If not, it will be completed by the
beginning of October.  [Words indistinct]

[Worker]  [Words indistinct]  speed and quality confused the marathon with
speed.  Speed is planned and the marathon is not.  The marathon comes as a
result of delays [words indistinct] poor quality.  Here speed is planned;
its organized.

[Reporter]  Do you believe that such fast-paced work could hinder quality
in any way?

[Castro]  What a coincidence, what a coincidence [repeats himself]!  Not
that this is one of the projects with better quality.

[Reporter]  Who has said this?

[Castro]  Many people who have seen the project--people from Public Health,
Caballero--many people say it is one of the ones with best quality.  The
Frank Pais is being built rapidly.  You know how many millions of years--I
say millions to exaggerate a little--it has been under construction.  For
us 15 years are millions.  I was being told a while ago that the project--I
was told there, the doctors have told me--is being built with good quality.
I believe what causes the quality of a project to deteriorate is not
completing it at all because of negligence and indolence.  When there is a
desire to build rapidly a project for the people, it is not hard to
associate this with quality.  The worst thing is for construction of a
project to take 15 years; by the time it's finished, it's already old.

[Reporter]  Even in the minds of the people.

[Castro]  In the minds of the people and in the materials also.  I also
costs much more.  I have seen... [changes thought]  I may be a lay person
but I have visited some of the projects that have been completed and I like
them.  I look at details a lot.  I look at the tiles individually.  I look
at the floors and see how the tiles are placed.  If I find a stained tile,
I say, there is a stained tile and ask:  What happened with this tile?  I
look at the marble.  Of course, quality is a very broad concept.  You can
find red or pink marble [words indistinct] you can find lighter or darker
ones.  There are times when those shades give beauty to the wall.  There
are some who [words indistinct] beauty is included in the concept of
quality.  [Words indistinct] [end recording]
-END-