New York – On the occasion of the seventh commemoration of the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, assured that the Administration she represents remains committed to the reconstruction of Puerto Rico.
“On the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Maria, I stand with Puerto Ricans in their mourning and in honoring the island’s resilience in the aftermath of the tragedy. I went to Puerto Rico shortly after the hurricane and saw the devastation it left in its wake. I spoke to families whose lives had been devastated, business owners who had lost everything, and people in communities without power and no hope of rebuilding. They didn’t need paper towels thrown at them – they needed real help and collaboration. Seven years later, we have all seen Puerto Rico’s inspiring courage and ambition to rebuild,” said the Democratic candidate for the White House.
“As Vice President, I am proud of our administration’s success in unlocking billions in disaster relief and recovery funds that had been blocked by the previous administration. We have partnered with local leaders to ensure that Puerto Rico’s communities are not left behind. As President, I will always be committed to the future of Puerto Rico and ensuring that every community in Puerto Rico has the opportunity to not only survive, but thrive,” Harris added.
One of the issues that the Biden-Harris Administration has focused on the most to emphasize its commitment to Puerto Rico is post-hurricane reconstruction.
$140 billion investment for infrastructure and economy in Puerto Rico
A Latinos for Harris-Walz fact sheet released earlier this month highlights the historic $140 billion investment in the island’s economy, environment and infrastructure.
“This includes FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds that currently support 2,275 reconstruction projects in Puerto Rico, with 1,769 more on the way, especially under a Harris-Walz Administration,” reads part of the information sheet.
Regarding specific critical infrastructure projects, the fact sheet highlights that the Administration has made historic investments not only to rebuild but to strengthen Puerto Rico.
In that regard, they mention the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Act” and the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the latter of which was made possible as a result of the tie-breaking vote in the Senate provided by Harris.
Among the projects for which federal funds have been invested are: improvements to PR-10 and PR-2; the restoration of the Martín Peña Canal; the expansion of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport; the installation of electric vehicle charging ports in 10 locations; and the investment of billions of dollars to modernize the electric grid and support reliable and affordable energy, “with more work to be done.”
The document also mentions support for the adoption of clean energy for low-income families through the investment of $1 billion through the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund to provide rooftop solar panel systems.
Contrasts are drawn with Trump’s handling of Puerto Rico
In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration argues that Trump’s mishandling of Hurricane Maria cost lives.
“Nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans died from Hurricane Maria, stemming from the Trump Administration’s failure to adequately prepare for and respond to the destruction. After Trump lied about the actual number of lives lost, then-Senator Harris helped pass legislation to help establish guidelines for monitoring deaths following natural disasters,” the government said.
Additionally, they claim that Trump withheld billions of dollars in aid for the island, and refer to a government investigation that also found that the Republican obstructed the investigation into why some $20 billion was blocked for Puerto Rico after the hurricane.
“Under Vice President Harris, the Biden-Harris Administration worked to reverse these discriminatory actions and unlock critical funding for the island,” they compared.
The administration also recalled Trump’s disrespectful and disdainful attitude toward Puerto Ricans when he threw paper towels at the victims during his brief visit to the island after the storm.
During her visit to Puerto Rico last March, the vice president acknowledged that, although there is still work to be done to advance the reconstruction of the island, the Administration to which she belongs is moving “urgently” and ambitiously in that direction.
From the patio of a house in Canóvanas that was repaired with federal funds provided by the Department of Housing and fitted with a solar panel system, Harris argued that actions in favor of the reconstruction of the island have been directed intentionally.
“We are talking about people’s homes, but not just about the structure in terms of the community, and of course, the island; and what we all have to understand is that it must be a priority to restore not only the beauty, but the infrastructure,” said the official.
“I think it is critically important to highlight that this island is home to some of the most talented and innovative people in our nation. Puerto Rico is a growing leader in biotechnology; extraordinary work has been done and Maria delayed the impact a little bit…”, he added.
“President Biden and I have been very intentional about what we are doing for the leaders and for the people and families of Puerto Rico. To date, our Administration has invested more than $140 billion in Puerto Rico,” the Democrat said.
The most recent questions from Puerto Ricans on and off the island in terms of post-hurricane reconstruction focus on the inability of private companies LUMA Energy and Genera PR to control blackouts and provide reliable service to citizens.
In fact, the call this week by diaspora leaders in states like New York and Florida, in the framework of the anniversary of the tragedy, was for the government of Puerto Rico to initiate a process to cancel the contract with both private companies and return the administration to public hands.
On this subject, federal authorities have stated that, although they share Puerto Ricans’ frustration over the blackouts, the contracts are between the PR government and private companies, so their field of action is limited.
Officials from the Department of Energy, the agency in charge of the Puerto Rico Grid Modernization and Recovery Team, have said that the federal intervention is focused on technical assistance, although they communicate daily with system managers on the island and monitor service interruptions.
In an interview with El Diario last July, Agustín Carbó Lugo, director of the Puerto Rico Energy Grid Modernization and Recovery Team, stated that transforming the electrical grid is a “very complex” task that cannot be resolved overnight.
“I believe that they have to continue communicating with the people, and that is something that the secretary has been very emphatic in letting both LUMA and Genera know, because I believe that the people are perhaps unaware of all the work that is being done at this time. People also have to understand what benefits those works have for them. So we respect that the government of Puerto Rico is the one who has that prerogative as to whether or not there is a breach on the part of LUMA and the contract that they executed with the government. That is a determination that the public-private partnership (Public-Private Partnership Authority) has to make, which is the one who has jurisdiction in that matter of the contract, and they will make the pertinent determination as they understand it. The important thing is that we have to continue having reliability in the system and we have to make sure that the system is working because many people here depend on it, not only to operate their businesses, but to live. We have been very emphatic about that; this is about life and death. We have to have a robust and reliable system to ensure that Puerto Ricans can live with energy justice,” he said.
Numbers from FEMA, the agency in charge of allocating and obligating federal funds for reconstruction and permanent work on the island, indicate that nearly $34 billion has been obligated or approved since Hurricane Maria. The figure includes emergency funds immediately after the storm, plus those approved for more than 11,000 permanent work projects.
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