Washington – The commissioner residing in Washington, Jenniffer González, examines the possibility of gathering victims of Hurricane Maria in a lawsuit to demand that the federal government expedite the disbursement of about $ 19,000 million in community development program disaster relief funds (CDBG-DR) that were assigned to the Island.
“There is no reason why (those disbursements) have not occurred,” Gonzalez said today., In an interview.
At a time when he anticipates that the government of Puerto Rico will soon demand new emergency funds from Congress to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by the earthquakes this week, González said that the experience with the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Maria indicates that they should not be processed mainly through the CDBG-DR program, which administers the Federal Department of Housing (HUD)
“The bureaucratic process by which this program is limited does not help,” said Commissioner Gonzalez, who has spoken in recent hours with the head of the White House interim cabinet, Mick Mulvaney, and President Trump’s advisor on matters of Internal Security, Admiral Peter Brown, seeking to expedite the disbursement of CDBG-DR funds and to warn of the new urgencies that the Island has.
As the Democratic leaders of Congress have strongly emphasized, Commissioner Gonzalez said that “there is no reason” that of the nearly $ 20.5 billion in CDBG-DR allocations promised to the Island, HUD has no longer disbursed half of those funds .
In addition to having made $ 1,507 million available to the government of Puerto Rico last February, that same month HUD Secretary Ben Carson authorized the delivery of another $ 8,221 million that has not been disbursed.
HUD has also not given way, despite a law mandate, to the guidelines on the use of another $ 8.285 million of CDBG-DR for mitigation projects.
Last October, Mulvaney confirmed President Trump’s efforts to block assignments for the Island due to what they consider widespread corruption problems in the Puerto Rican government.
When she spoke with Mulvaney on Wednesday, the commissioner said Trump’s chief adviser was “surprised” that the guidelines on mitigation funds had not been published and said “he was going to make inquiries.”
Commissioner Gonzalez said that HUD and the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) of the White House, which are responsible for the disbursement process and the publication of the guides on the use of CDBG-DR funds, have blamed each other for delays, without taking responsibility.
Although the White House did not comment today, Mulvaney left it up to Admiral Brown to follow up on his claims, the commissioner said.
Today, spokesmen for HUD and OMB again preferred caution in the delivery of funds to what they insist is a “history of embezzlement and corruption” of the government of Puerto Rico. But Gonzalez said that none of the agencies have been able to show corruption problems in the use of CDBG-DR funds.
Commissioner Gonzalez said that now, in addition to examining the damage to homes of citizens and schools, the government of Puerto Rico may require assistance to help you deal with damage to the Costa Sur power plant, schools and roads.
The commissioner said she was satisfied with the speed with which the White House processed the emergency declaration that initially allowed the federal government, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to assist with life assurance efforts. and the safety of people most affected by earthquakes.
The fact that the emergency declaration covers the 78 municipalities will facilitate including, in an independent request that President Trump will proclaim that a major disaster has occurred on the Island, damage to roads in municipalities outside the southern zone, the most impacted by the earthquakes.
The commissioner anticipates that in a matter of days that request will be submitted to the White House to declare Puerto Rico or part of the Island as a disaster zone.
In the next few days, Gonzalez said he will also emphasize bringing members of Congress to the Island so that they know firsthand the damages that have occurred. Tomorrow, Republican Senator Rick Scott (Florida) will be in Puerto Rico to visit Guánica, the South Coast plant and meet with Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, among other things.
“That was what worked for me,” to raise awareness in Congress, after Hurricane Maria, said the commissioner.
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