The Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF) affirmed this Monday afternoon that the government has not made any request for funds or submitted any plan to respond to the emergency caused in the southwest of the country by the earthquakes that were felt in that area this weekend.
The expressions of the entity that controls the finances of Puerto Rico were given through a press release in which they refer to press reports regarding a plan for the recovery of the $ 50 million municipalities, from the Reserve Fund of Emergency.
“In response to media reports regarding a $ 50 million recovery plan for the municipalities from the Emergency Reserve Fund, the Oversight Board states that it has not received the aforementioned plan, nor any request for approval. of said plan, or requests for redistribution of the funds of that plan ”, said the agency, which recognized the difficult circumstances faced by residents affected by the earthquakes.
“To date, the government of Puerto Rico has not requested access to the Emergency Fund due to the earthquakes registered this past weekend”, the Board reiterated.
The JSF recalled that last January it released $ 260 million from the Emergency Fund for earthquake-related expenses and stated that those funds were available until March in response to this emergency.
The agency added that on March 13 it released the remainder of that money at that time, approximately one $ 160 million, for expenses related to the COVID-19 and said that he extended access to the rest of the money from the Emergency Fund until May 1 in order to cover the expenses related to provisional schools and camps for displaced people who were unable to return home. According to the JSF, invoices related to those expenses were received and approved this weekend.
“In total, the government used more than $ 130 million from the Emergency Fund in earthquake-related expenses, $ 15 million of which went directly to the affected municipalities. To date, the government has used more than $ 81 million from the Emergency Reserve Fund for expenses related to the COVID-19 emergency, ”the Board noted.
“The remaining $ 49 million is still available in the Emergency Reserve Fund. On the other hand, $ 100 million was transferred as part of the Emergency Measures Support Package by COVID-19 directly to the municipalities, ”the agency in its press release.
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