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Rebuilding Dollars, a New Permits Code, and Water Relief · 787daily — Puerto Rico Every Morning

• 0:00
  Welcome to The Week in Puerto Rico, from 787daily.
• 0:03
  I'm Marisol.
• 0:04
  And I'm Diego.
• 0:05
  It's the week ending October 17, and we have a lot to get through.
• 0:09
  We have to start with some sad news, though.
• 0:11
  Yes.
• 0:12
  On Friday morning, a contractor died at the Caguas Norte filtration plant of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, the AAA.
• 0:18
  He was there during improvement work at the facility.
• 0:21
  That's heartbreaking.
• 0:22
  Someone went to work on Friday morning and didn't come home.
• 0:25
  The Police are investigating the circumstances, so we don't have more than that right now.
• 0:29
  Our thoughts are with his family and with his coworkers.
• 0:32
  Absolutely.
• 0:33
  We'll leave it there until there's more to report responsibly.
• 0:36
  Okay, let's turn to money, and recovery.
• 0:38
  Nine years after the 2017 hurricanes, there's a new look at where the federal rebuilding funds stand.
• 0:43
  This is the FEMA story.
• 0:44
  The headline number is big.
• 0:46
  FEMA has committed $29.98 billion to rebuild after those hurricanes and the disasters since.
• 0:51
  Right, but committed and paid are different things.
• 0:54
  By October 14, COR3 had paid out $7.36 billion of that.
• 0:58
  That's 24.5%.
• 1:00
  So less than a quarter, nine years on.
• 1:02
  And I think people hear "$30 billion committed" and assume the work is done, or close to it.
• 1:08
  Exactly.
• 1:08
  Behind that gap are families and communities still waiting on rebuilding.
• 1:11
  The story is a reminder that a promise on paper isn't the same as a finished road, a repaired home, or a restored service.
• 1:18
  And it connects to our next story, which is also about federal money, but from an oversight angle.
• 1:24
  The inspector general at HUD looked at how Puerto Rico handled federal funds.
• 1:28
  The finding was that Puerto Rico could not justify $47.8 million in payments, and potentially up to $54.8 million.
• 1:35
  What was the problem?
• 1:36
  Did they say the money was lost?
• 1:38
  The takeaway is about documentation and internal controls.
• 1:41
  The island couldn't justify those payments because of a lack of both.
• 1:44
  That's not the same as saying where the money went, so we should be careful not to read more into it.
• 1:51
  Fair.
• 1:51
  But when you put it next to the FEMA numbers, you can see why the paperwork matters.
• 1:56
  Federal dollars come with strict requirements, and the record-keeping has to hold up.
• 2:00
  And over $50 million is a real amount of money for a place still waiting on so much recovery work.
• 2:06
  It is.
• 2:07
  Okay, let's move to the Legislature.
• 2:09
  The Senate passed a new Planning and Permits Code this week.
• 2:12
  And this one is big in scope.
• 2:14
  The new Planning and Permits Code would repeal 46 legal and administrative instruments and 50 laws.
• 2:19
  50 laws.
• 2:19
  I'd want a snack and a very long afternoon just to read the list of what's being repealed.
• 2:25
  Which is partly the point of the criticism.
• 2:27
  Critics say there wasn't enough debate for something this sweeping.
• 2:30
  That's the tension, right?
• 2:31
  Anyone who has dealt with permits in Puerto Rico probably agrees the system is complicated, and a rewrite could mean something real.
• 2:38
  But when a code touches that many laws, people want time to look at it.
• 2:42
  Exactly.
• 2:43
  Supporters of simplification and critics of the process might both have a point.
• 2:47
  The questions are how well it was vetted and what it changes for people trying to build, open a business, or get a permit.
• 2:54
  We'll keep an eye on how it moves forward.
• 2:56
  Let's end with water, which has been on a lot of minds.
• 3:00
  The government says it will not reimplement water rationing, because reservoir levels have improved.
• 3:04
  That's good news.
• 3:05
  Rationing disrupts everything: households, businesses, schedules.
• 3:07
  Just knowing it's off the table is a relief.
• 3:10
  But the government isn't putting everything away.
• 3:12
  It says it will keep cloud seeding and well reactivation going.
• 3:15
  So it's a "we're out of the woods, but we're keeping the umbrella handy" approach.
• 3:19
  I mean that figuratively, since cloud seeding is more about making the clouds do their job.
• 3:24
  Ha, well put.
• 3:25
  The idea seems to be to keep those tools in place even as the reservoirs recover.
• 3:30
  Which sounds sensible.
• 3:31
  Improved levels are good, but nobody wants to be caught off guard.
• 3:34
  So, to recap: a contractor died at the Caguas Norte plant and the Police are investigating.
• 3:39
  FEMA has committed $29.98 billion, with 24.5% paid out.
• 3:44
  HUD's inspector general flagged payments Puerto Rico couldn't justify.
• 3:47
  The Senate passed the new Planning and Permits Code.
• 3:49
  And water rationing is not coming back, for now.
• 3:52
  A full week.
• 3:53
  And there's more detail on every one of these stories.
• 3:56
  You can find the full stories at 787daily.com.
• 4:00
  Thanks for spending part of your week with us.
• 4:02
  Cuídense, and we'll see you next week.