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Orocovis – Governor Peter Pierluzzi Yesterday highlighted the importance of LUMA Energy reporting in real-time the status of repairs to the electricity network following the passage of Cyclone Fiona.
Pierluisi made the disclosure yesterday during a tour with the Citizenship Commissioner in Washington DC Jennifer Gonzalezand a group of members of Congress visiting the island after the passage of Hurricane Fiona.
During the tour, both the governor and Gonzalez approached the repair work and were asked if they were satisfied with how LUMA Energy was communicating updates on the work to restore power to the public.
“It’s important that they notify people in real time. They’re committed to responding openly, and they’ve provided any information that’s available. But the important thing right now is that the numbers are increasing. We know the network has been hit hard in the south. We know there will be pockets in Puerto Rico that it will take to get electric service back on.” ,” said the chief executive.
For his part, the resident commissioner believed that LUMA Energy failed to provide information to subscribers of the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to enable them to know how the network is being restored. “I questioned it from day one. That’s why I went on Friday. I went there (at the LUMA Energy and PREPA offices) because I wanted to ask questions. And they gave me a lot of information that was not available publicly,” Gonzalez said.
“I think there needs to be more communication and what’s going on. I told the Luma people directly. Until people know what’s going on, we’re all going to be frustrated,” he added.
This afternoon, LUMA Energy and PREPA held a three-hour press conference in which spokespeople for both companies briefed reporters on the service restoration work.
“There is all kinds of information here in the media. You have reported it yourself. In general, I think people are well-informed,” added Pierluzzi to questions from El Nuevo Día.
At a time when the country has 56% electricity, Gonzalez and Pierluzzi said they are not satisfied.
“What I want is for that number to continue to increase, the sooner the better. I am not going to be satisfied until the majority of people have access to service, electricity and water,” the governor said.
Tour the Orocovis
During the tour with members of Congress, Gonzalez and Pierluisi saw the BR-143 and BR-590 highways that had collapsed due to the heavy and continuous rains brought by Fiona. The Federal Highway Administration is working on the PR-143 repairs, which will cost $1.5 million, Pierluisi said.
The governor reportedly visited Orocovis, Barranquitas, and Ponce with a congressional delegation that included Wall Demings (Florida).
“Our job as members of the Committee on Homeland Security (the federal agency to which FEMA is attached) is to protect the health, safety and well-being of the people we represent,” Demings said.
He said they are on the island to assess how reconstruction is going after Maria and now, the response after Fiona.
Demings noted that they have questions about what challenges the island faces at this time. For example, why was it so difficult to restore the electricity network in the southern zone?
Five years ago, after Hurricane Maria hit, they came to the island, and now they’re doing the same, “to make sure we’re prepared for future storms,” Demings recalled.
“Not Fiona Maria. There are some areas where we’ve done well, but we’re very interested in the transparency, the number of people with energy service,” the congresswoman said.
“56% is very encouraging, but we have service restructuring in Ponce, which is only 12%. “So we want to know what challenges they face and why the restoration of Ponce is slower than other areas,” Demings added.
Both Pierluisi and González pointed out that the government’s focus at the moment is on the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. When Gonzalez was asked if he still understood that the contract with LUMA Energy should be terminated, he said: “Right now, I am focused on having electricity. We have a hearing in Congress on Friday, and I think we can learn a lot about why they’re working a certain way, why they’re not supposed to use $11.5 million over the $300 million.
The press questioned the chief executive about why the health department didn’t implement the Empower program, a federal initiative that tries to save elderly and vulnerable patients during major blackouts, which Pierlusi denied.
“Yes, it is used. Sanitation is fully addressing this situation. They are going to visit, they have already taken x-rays of bedridden apartments,” he said.
He dismissed the possibility that hurricane-related deaths would be recorded and the government would not count them, a situation experienced after Maria when more than 3,000 deaths occurred.
“No. We are more open than we were at that time. The forensic science department is investigating. Health too. Right now, we have 12… 16 deaths estimated,” the governor added.
“In due course, there will be a lot of time to evaluate the performance of everyone involved in this matter. But when they look at the statistics and compare the size of the population that currently has electricity, when they compare it to the last five hurricanes, the difference is very bad,” he said.
On the electrification of hospitals, the governor recalled that 75% are already electrified.
“The target is everyone, but everyone is involved. Privacy was given to important facilities. Those who don’t have to have generators according to the law and regulation. One generator and one backup generator. It’s required by law, so we help those who don’t have it, but it’s their responsibility under the law,” he said. .
Additionally, he announced that more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have already applied for assistance from the FEMA Individual Assistance Program. 95% of applications are submitted through the FEMA application.
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