The Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Department of Agriculture (USDA, for its acronym in English) would be one of the entities that investigates the distribution of aid under federal programs of the Family Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF) last January in communities affected by earthquakes in the South of the Island, according to a source told this newspaper.
Meter He attempted to obtain an official reaction from USDA in Puerto Rico, but was unable to contact an official in the area concerned. The Family Department also did not respond to a request for information from this newspaper about the final recommendations in this internal investigation and the movement of personnel in the agency.
However, this morning the representative Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló, who from the House of Representatives investigates everything related to supplies after the earthquakes, said that he was notified by Family that the agency referred its findings to the federal authorities. “According to the letter with which Familia sends us the report, we are informed that Familia has already made the referral to federal agencies,” the legislator said in a radio interview (RadioIsla 1320).
In the meantime, the report of the Legal Division of the Department of the Family that points to partisan political intervention of the senator, Evelyn Vázquez in the processes of distribution of the aid of ADSEF As a change in distribution plans or delay in the distribution of aid, it is already in the hands of the Justice Department local.
“The Division of Public Integrity and Comptroller’s Affairs (DIPAC) of the Department of Justice requested and received a copy of the report prepared by the Legal Division of the Department of the Family regarding allegations regarding the supply delivery processes by the Administration of Socioeconomic Development of the Family (ADSEF) during the month of January 2020. Its evaluation is part of the investigation processes of the DIPAC ”, stated the prosecutor in writing Phoebe Isales Forsythe.
At a public public hearing last February. Attorney General Dennise Longo said they are separately investigating the matter of the warehouse with supplies in Ponce and the matter of political intervention with the help of ADSEF.
On the other hand, the Government Ethics Office (OEG) also investigates possible irregularities in the distribution of aid in the towns of the South and West of the Island at the beginning of the year. OEG lawyers are investigating following a complaint filed in late January by the representative of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), Rafael “Ratito” Hernández. However, the Family Department has not sent them the report of their Legal Division on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Special Commission for the Reconstruction and Total Preparation of Puerto Rico Before an Emergency in the House of Representatives already has the report and the president of the organization, Rodríguez Aguiló will summon the family secretary, Eddie – to public hearings next week.
The report held by Meter confirms that part of the distribution of supplies to earthquake victims in the south and west of the island was interrupted and delayed since, on instructions from the Family Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF), it was necessary to wait for the arrival of the Senator and candidate of the New Progressive Party (PNP), Evelyn Vázquez, to be distributed. In addition, within the analysis it is pointed out that the legislator did campaign politically with said supplies.
The document, which was produced in the Family Legal Division, not only mentions the new-progressive legislator, but also places the mayor of Mayagüez, José Guillermo Rodríguez and the candidate of the Popular Democratic Party representative, Jocelyne Rodríguez, in the decision-making and distribution of ADSEF aid. ADSEF supplies are part of federal emergency programs.
You may be interested in this video related to supplies in the South:
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