Cover Page Legal HistorySports SearchSenate gathers in Villalba to receive input from mayors of Guayama district The San Juan Daily StarMar 273 min readInadequate maintenance of state roads is a key shared concern Villalba Mayor Dan Santiago on his first day in office declared a State of Fiscal Emergency through a municipal ordinance and created a finance committee to identify areas for debt restructuring.By The Star Staff meeting in a Special Committee of the Whole in the municipality of Villalba on Wednesday concerns and recommendations of the mayors of the Guayama Senate District to outline their efforts to result in legislation for the benefit of their constituents “Our commitment is to guarantee broad access to the discussion of the issues that most affect Puerto Rico,” Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz said “This work is not limited to the analysis of problems but rather translates into concrete actions senators gain direct knowledge of the complaints and needs of communities thus facilitating the necessary legislation to address them.” Villalba Mayor Dan Santiago expressed his concern regarding the budget crisis in the island’s municipalities Santiago declared a State of Fiscal Emergency through a municipal ordinance and created a finance committee to identify areas for debt restructuring “Among the most notable debts are over $2.5 million owed to the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority “More than $1 million is owed to the CRIM [Municipal Revenue Collections Center] $600,000 to the General Services Administration for gasoline anticipated one of the biggest challenges for the District of Guayama: the compromised state of the roads and the financial deficit to cover the municipalities’ operating expenses faces significant challenges due to the economic burdens imposed by Law 27-1993 and the “Pay as You Go” model,” he said “We need tax reform that will ease our burden and guarantee greater investment capacity in essential projects for the well-being of our citizens.” the municipal budget of Cidra for the 2024-2025 fiscal year amounts to some $15,164,588; of which $10,968,903 is allocated exclusively to payroll the public debt for the fiscal year will reach $1,501,428 Guayama Mayor O’Brain Vázquez Molina echoed the words of his counterpart in Cidra as he considers the repair of state highways in his municipality to be urgent “The significant deterioration of these roads affects not only citizen mobility but also the local economy and access to essential services,” he said channeling the Guamaní River is an imperative for the safety of the population preventing recurring floods that cause material and human losses.” Another project Vázquez Molina mentioned for his municipality was the acquisition of the former Santa Rosa Hospital for the creation of an Integrated Health and Safety Center The initiative would seek to optimize service delivery by improving coordination between the municipal health and safety departments He added that the construction of a Combat Sports Center is important for promoting sports development Orocovis Mayor Jesús Colón Berlingieri concurred that maintaining the region’s main roads is essential for economic development “Highway PR-155 represents the main access to our municipality used not only by our residents but also by a large number of domestic and international tourists who visit us thanks to our great culinary diversity and the Toro Verde Recreational Park,” he said Colón Berlingieri requested an investigation into the expansion of Highway PR-155 from its starting point at the intersection with PR-137 in Morovis to the jurisdiction of Orocovis and that the Department of Transportation and Public Works be asked to establish greater safety measures He also requested information on the status of improvements to state highways in his municipality that were damaged by atmospheric events The Orocovis mayor also noted the importance of improving the Toro Negro Forest Recreation Area which suffered hurricane damage and has not received Federal Emergency Management Agency support through the island Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Santa Isabel Mayor Meldwin Rivera Rodríguez recommended an increase in the contribution through Law 53-2021 to mitigate the impact of the equity fund © 2025 The San Juan Daily Star - Puerto Rico We take on many of the biggest environmental and health challenges of our time and stick with them. The law makes change. Coal Ash in the U.S. Applied Energy Services continues to contaminate the air and water in Puerto Rico with toxic coal ash the Applied Energy Services — Puerto Rico (AES-PR) coal plant in Guayama Puerto Rico has failed to contain its coal ash AES-PR stored coal ash — the hazardous substance left after burning coal for energy — in a mountainous pile AES-PR distributed coal ash as cheap fill material and it was dumped at dozens of sites in southeastern Puerto Rico The AES-PR coal plant continues to produce an average of 600 tons of coal ash per day with levels of arsenic and radiation that pose cancer risks Despite EPA’s 2015 Coal Ash Rule which created the first-ever safeguards for coal ash disposal many coal ash dumps remained unregulated due to sweeping exemptions for legacy coal ash ponds and inactive landfills The exempted coal ash dumps are sited disproportionately in low-income communities and communities of color After years of litigation and grassroots activism the EPA extended clean up requirements to hundreds of old coal ash dumps across the country when it issued new regulations in the spring of 2024 But the revised rule does not address coal ash that was dumped off-site or used as fill which occurred at dozens of locations in Puerto Rico The magnitude of harm from recklessly dumped toxic coal ash requires decisive action from federal and state regulators the more hazardous contaminants enter Puerto Rico’s air and water and the more difficult cleanup will be EPA must force AES to clean up and contain coal ash at its plant But the EPA must also prohibit the use of coal ash as fill and make AES clean up areas where ash was scattered around southeastern Puerto Rico Fugitive dust emissions from the waste pile have caused harm to the health of nearby residents the waste pile dwarfed all other structures at the plant and still stands with no cover totally exposed to the persistent Caribbean winds and tropical rainstorms AES-PR has failed to implement a corrective action remedy that would adequately clean up the groundwater contamination at the Guayama plant and prevent further contamination AES-PR’s plan consists of installing a synthetic liner under the waste pile in dangerous proximity to the water table and employing a “do nothing” approach known as Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) to watch rather than clean up the existing groundwater contamination EPA issued a letter to AES-PR identifying deficiencies in the company’s cleanup plan and reiterating the EPA’s position that MNA is not an appropriate remedy EPA Region 2 issued a Notice of Potential Violations identifying several violations of the Coal Ash Rule’s groundwater monitoring and reporting requirements AES-PR failed to provide groundwater data from certain samples taken over the past five years that are critical to determining the full nature and extent of contamination from the waste pile AES-PR repeatedly violated federal clean air standards EPA Region 2 issued a notice of violation under the Clean Air Act finding that the Guayama plant exceeded emission limits for pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide AES-PR also violated the Puerto Rico Regulations for the Control of Atmospheric Pollution by exceeding the visible emissions and opacity limitations 86 times in 2021 The notice also identified several violations of the Clean Air Act’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards AES-PR also violated the reporting provisions of the plant’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit by failing to submit quarterly reports of all excess emissions to EPA for 2017 through 2021 The EPA recently acknowledged that coal ash is even more dangerous than previously thought People may be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation from coal ash used as fill AES-PR’s coal ash was often used to grade sites in flood-prone areas. In some cases, ash was placed in excess quantities and in areas clearly not safe for coal ash disposal.[v] The majority of sites are directly above the South Coast Aquifer and close to public supply water wells or the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve hurricane-prone climate is incompatible with the use of coal ash for structural fill The archipelago’s reliance on groundwater for drinking water increases the risk of human exposure to coal ash pollutants the toxic ash still lies unused and uncovered on the ground and these piles pose dangers in residential areas Fugitive dust from these uncovered piles and roads is common where many residents are Afro-Puerto Rican this region suffers the greatest contamination of any region in Puerto Rico The region also has among the highest unemployment and school dropout rates on the archipelago The region experienced a sharp decrease in medical services with only one hospital currently in operation offsite disposal of coal ash in the region and continued reckless operation of the plant impose disproportionate public health risks to this environmental justice community The AES-PR waste pile is the only coal ash disposal site in Puerto Rico that is regulated by the 2015 Coal Ash Rule The coal ash waste pile is contaminating groundwater at unsafe levels there are approximately 30 unregulated coal ash fill sites consisting of both covered and uncovered ash deposits Because AES-PR was not required to report the location of ash placement the number of dumpsites that escape federal regulation remains unknown While these unregulated sites are almost certainly contaminating water and threatening health and the environment "Coal Ash Dumps": CCR 2021 Inspection Report: AES Puerto Rico All data on groundwater contamination from coal ash derived from the utilities’ publicly accessible CCR Compliance Data and Information websites and exceedances were calculated by Environmental Integrity Project [i] See AES-PR CCR Compliance and Data and Information, available at https://www.aespuertorico.com/es/ccr [ii] See University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Public Health - Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology Epidemiological Study in the Communities of Puente de Jobos and Miramar in Guayama and Santa Isidra and Rafael Bermúdez in Fajardo These results were confirmed in a subsequent study in 2018 [iii] See 80 Fed [v] See 80 Fed [T]he available facts illustrate several of the significant concerns associated with unencapsulated uses the AGREMAX was applied without appropriate engineering controls and in volumes that far exceeded the amounts necessary for the engineering use of the materials Inspections of some of the sites where the material had been placed showed use in residential areas including areas close to wetlands and surface waters and over shallow some sites appeared to have been abandoned EPA does not consider the practices described in this section to be beneficial use but rather waste management that would be subject to the requirements of the final rule Christine Santillana, Senior Legislative Counsel, Earthjustice, csantillana@earthjustice.org Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Earthjustice, levans@earthjustice.org Alabama Arizona Colorado Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (En Español) South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming The Great Lakes Tennessee Valley Authority Earthjustice fights in the courts for a long-term solution to the toxic menace of coal ash And we act on behalf of dozens of clients and over 100 coalition partners to defeat legislative attempts to subvert federally enforceable safeguards of coal ash Clean Energy Program Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program uses the power of the law and the strength of partnership to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy The legal case: Coal Ash Regulations “The honey bee crisis is a human health crisis.” Stay informed on how we hold accountable those who break our environmental laws © 2025 Earthjustice. We respect your privacy SearchLarge-scale solar & battery storage projects on track for Guayama 20241 min readThe two solar-plus-storage installations plus two standalone battery energy storage systems according to a published report.By The Star Staff The federal government has just finalized a $861 million loan guarantee to fund what will be Puerto Rico’s largest utility-scale solar and battery storage installations according to specialized publication Canary Media Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office announced financing for two solar-plus-storage facilities on the southern coast of the island The solar plants combined will have 200 megawatts of solar capacity — enough to power 43,000 homes — while the battery systems are expected to provide up to 285 megawatts of storage capacity will be led by Clean Flexible Energy LLC (CFE) The facilities will be located in the municipalities of Guayama and Salinas The DOE offers loans for clean energy projects on the condition that borrowers meet certain financing and administrative requirements meaning that hundreds of millions of dollars will soon start flowing toward construction Project Marahu is expected to go online sometime in 2025 director of the DOE’s Loan Programs Office told Canary Media that the loan presents a major opportunity to diversify and stabilize Puerto Rico’s grid which currently relies on fossil fuels to produce more than 90% of its electricity “There’s a huge potential for additional projects like this,” he said 2023 Little League Softball® World Series – August 6 – 13 For the second-straight year, Guayama (Puerto Rico) Softball Little League will head to the Little League Softball® World Series in Greenville, North Carolina, after defeating Mexico, 3-2, in the 2023 Latin America Region Tournament Championship The league finished the tournament with a 5-0 record a team from Puerto Rico last represented the Latin America Region at the Little League Softball World Series in 2017 when Softball Femenino de Coamo Little League held the honor Chartering for the first time with Little League® International in 2018 this will be the second ever appearance for Guayama Softball Little League at the Little League Softball World Series after going 0-2 in the 2022 event With the first-round matchups for the 2023 LLSWS set Guayama Softball Little League will open the tournament with a first-round matchup in the Orange Bracket against Canada in Game 2 on Sunday The winner of that game will take on the Northwest Region Champion while the loser will face off against the loser of Game 8 The 2023 Little League Softball World Series is set to take place in Greenville, North Carolina, from August 6-13. For more information on the 2023 LLSWS, including information on how to attend or watch from home, visit LittleLeague.org/LLSWS Víctor Alvarado Guzmán was tired of waiting for environmental regulators to do their job The local activist shared the concerns of residents in Guayama that toxic coal ash from a nearby power plant was seeping underground and contaminating drinking water decided to take matters into their own hands they mapped out sites where they suspected coal ash had been dumped and took samples of the tap water in nearby homes They conducted two rounds of testing in the same homes in March and August of 2021 The results, they say, support the community’s suspicions about contamination and helped persuade the Environmental Protection Agency in November to announce $100,000 in federal funding for EPA staff members to test drinking water and install air monitors near coal ash disposal sites in Puerto Rico “The government agencies are the ones who should be checking if the water is getting polluted if the quality of the air is adequate for the residents of the area,” Rosario said ​“It’s immoral to know that this is happening and not want to document it because it’s politicized.” Residents of Guayama and nearby Salinas were glad the EPA is supporting more testing but many remain cynical about a colonial government that has allowed a U.S.-based energy company to contaminate the region’s air soil and water with toxic ash and other pollutants for decades EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited Guayama last summer and promised to prioritize addressing an environmental injustice that helped inspire the agency’s 2015 coal ash rules Activists presented EPA officials with their research and called on the agency to conduct its own testing and use its regulatory power to force the plant’s operator The EPA last summer also issued a notice of potential violations to AES for its alleged failure to provide a complete and accurate report of groundwater monitoring results as required by the coal ash rule, and it issued a notice of violation regarding AES’ air emissions under the Clean Air Act advocates bemoan the fact that the 2015 rules now being enforced by the EPA don’t cover ash in ponds closed before the rules took effect or at countless sites nationwide — including in Puerto Rico — where ash was used to build roads and berms or simply dumped on land Many residents in Guayama and Salinas live with chronic illnesses they believe are linked to constant exposure to toxic ash. A University of Puerto Rico study of public health data from 2016 to 2018 found that rates of chronic illnesses like asthma and respiratory issues were increasing significantly with cancer and it just continues and it never stops,” said Alvarado Guzmán who is president of a local environmental group called Comité Diálogo Ambiental ​“That is why everyone is fighting against AES and this issue with the ash has become something personal — because it is personal.” AES opened its Guayama power plant in 2002 and began a 25-year contract with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority — a governmental entity — to generate electricity for much of the island until 2027 The company has been poisoning residents in Guayama Salinas and other communities on the southern coast ever since said Salinas-based activist and environmental attorney Ruth Santiago A spokesperson for AES initially responded to requests for an interview made over the phone and via email One of the reasons the EPA agreed to conduct groundwater sampling at suspected ​“legacy” coal ash sites rather than just sampling around the perimeter of the power plant is to determine whether ​“contaminants similar to those associated with AES’ [coal ash]” are present in the groundwater used to supply homes Rosario said the samples he collected showed exactly that Two rounds of testing were conducted — first by Duke University and Rosario and Alvarado Guzmán tried to partner with Puerto Rico’s water authority to gain access to public wells located down-gradient from coal ash deposits but the government ​“blocked every step that we made,” Rosario said as EPA staff come in to do their own testing the local water authority will not be able to deny them access to the wells Before Rosario’s research, the only data on coal ash contamination in the area was coming from AES’ own testing of wells, which does not follow best practices outlined in the EPA’s Leaching Environmental Assessment Framework The company is required to report its testing to the EPA as it pertains to ash ponds subject to the 2015 rules The EPA is aware that AES’ pollution levels are actually higher and more dangerous than can be seen with the company’s testing method, Rosario said. He noted that, back in 2012, the EPA commissioned Vanderbilt University researchers to do proper testing of the AES site following the framework standards. Even still, on-site testing conducted by AES shows that toxic substances found in coal ash — chemicals like selenium, lithium and arsenic — have contaminated the groundwater at the Guayama site, according to the company’s 2021 groundwater monitoring report the level of arsenic in the groundwater was more than twice the federal standard for drinking water Remediating this contaminated groundwater will be a ​“long-term process,” but data reviewed by the EPA shows that the contamination does not extend beyond the limits of the coal plant site When this kind of contamination is detected the 2015 rules on coal ash mandate that companies “​understand and define the full nature and extent of the contamination,” Earthjustice attorney Mychal Ozaeta said installed alongside their permanent monitoring wells to assess the extent of groundwater contamination on the site The data from these wells have not been included in the company’s annual groundwater monitoring reports since they were installed in 2019 The groundwater contamination is attributed to a large pile or ​“staging area” where AES stores coal ash before transporting it off the island as required by laws passed by the Puerto Rican government in 2017 and 2019 The pile of toxic ash is considerably smaller now that it is used for temporary storage but still sits — uncovered through the wind and rain — above the South Coast Aquifer that supplies water to many communities in the area for protecting the people and the environment is that these ashes have to be removed,” Rosario said Permits for the liner were filed in 2020 with Puerto Rico’s Office of General Permitting and did not receive any oversight from the EPA nor the Puerto Rico Department of Environment and Natural Resources until they were in the final stages of approval attorneys from Earthjustice filed an administrative complaint with the Office of General Permitting — on behalf of Comité Diálogo Ambiental and nine other local groups — highlighting the ways in which the plan allegedly violates the 2015 rules The complaint alleges that the liner could lull residents and regulators into a false sense of security when it may not actually be sufficient to control contamination An outside expert hired by Earthjustice to review AES’ design plans alleged that the geosynthetic clay material of the liner is vulnerable to deterioration especially because the design allegedly does not leave adequate space between the bottom of the liner and the groundwater table Permits for the liner’s construction were approved in January 2021 The Puerto Rico Office of General Permitting and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by phone and email The EPA reviewed the findings in Earthjustice’s complaint and asked AES to provide additional information to ensure compliance across four main areas according to a January 2022 EPA document summarizing communications with AES The agency found that AES had failed to provide information on how it planned to decontaminate the area before installing the liner nor had the company documented whether the liner material was suitable for containing coal ash The EPA concurred with Earthjustice’s finding that AES had not provided enough groundwater elevation data and did not include a plan to properly contain ​“leachate,” a liquid contaminant generated when water percolates through coal ash Construction of the liner was granted final approval by the Puerto Rican government a year and a half ago now Earthjustice attorneys have not been able to confirm whether AES halted construction following the January 2022 letter from the EPA identifying deficiencies in the plan There is little that can be done to reverse course now barring more aggressive intervention from the EPA Earthjustice and other advocates have for years been demanding the EPA regulate such ​“legacy” or ​“historic” ash. A 2018 federal court decision ordered the EPA to regulate legacy ash contained in ponds and the EPA is considering extending this to legacy ash stored in landfills or piles as well The contamination stemming from AES’ Guayama site has caught the attention of activists near and far. As recently as April 5, students at the University of Richmond in Virginia organized a march demanding the university terminate its contract with AES due to its actions in Puerto Rico the leaders of 11 community organizations in Puerto Rico sent a letter to EPA officials demanding swifter and more decisive action “As long as this polluting AES facility continues to operate in violation of federal law people’s quality of life will continue to deteriorate,” local leaders said in the letter Local residents like Daniel de Jesús of Coquí Solar don’t just want testing and environmental remediation; they want the closure of the coal plant and a transition to renewable energy “You know what motivates us?” de Jesús said in Spanish our grandchildren — the generation that comes after us Destroyed land that is impossible to live on?” whose parents live on a hillside near the coal plant has been fighting to close the plant for years He has watched family members fall ill with conditions he says are connected to coal ash exposure As he walks along a road in Salinas coated with coal ash deposited before the 2015 rule he stops to talk and kicks at the toxic material now compacted from the weight of many footsteps He turns a bit of it loose with his shoe This website uses cookies to enhance your experience. Read our Privacy Notice This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again Communication is one of the most urgent needs in Puerto Rico Government officials must connect with each other to coordinate recovery efforts and residents want to reach out to loved ones Three-quarters of the island has no cell phone signal Maria's fearsome winds knocked out all but about 100 of the island's 1,600 cell towers But the town of Guayama found a way to stay in touch Like most of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities there is no cell service or power in Guayama people have been desperate to let family know they're okay The historic city on the southern coast is a little over an hour's drive from San Juan A retired banker named Jose Bauzá sent this message to his daughter in Detroit via a reporter We spoke or texted few minutes before Maria struck us here in Guayama The pharmacy has a satellite to transmit prescriptions "and when we didn't have any telephone or any system we thought about the satellite to see if it's still working," Sued said it worked." She was able to patch her cellphone into the satellite link "We were lucky to connect people with their families." So the pharmacy has become Guayama's link to the outside world Her customers line up for free phone calls beside shelves full of cold medications and coconut candy and disposable diapers It's one of the countless ways Puerto Ricans are helping each other during this epic catastrophe Marilee Dominguez (right) speaks on the phone with her sister-in-law in Costa Rica inside Derkes Pharmacy in Guayama (center) has made her phone with a satellite connection available to residents so they can contact relatives and friends outside of Puerto Rico The answer in Guayama — as it is in most of Puerto Rico — is that people are running out of food and drinking water This town was spared widespread destruction that happened elsewhere on the island rumors are running wild on social media—of coffins popping out of the ground and dead animals and gangs of looters the worst damage appears to be to the graceful old shade trees in the central plaza that Maria split apart Sued says she hears the same messages over and over Trees were washed down a river during Hurricane Maria in the southern town of Guayama One collateral effect of no internet or cellphones is that kids have to learn how to play again The same can be said of the regions in Texas and Florida hit by recent hurricanes consumer culture and the internet extended to every corner of the island so they don't know and they're learning back to basics," Sued says The pharmacist says she's seen more children riding bicycles More children playing outside — including her own 10-year-old twins Their mother is quite certain they will return to their cellphones and computers as soon as wireless communications return to Guayama — whenever that is Become an NPR sponsor Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application at Holy Trinity Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Rafael Lopez Landron High School in Guayama He then pursued higher education at the University of Puerto Rico Angel began his career as a schoolteacher in Guayama from 1962 to 1967 He served in the US Army during the Vietnam Era from 1967 to 1969 he earned a master's degree in Guidance Counseling from Worcester State University and briefly served as Vice Mayor of Guayama in 1980-1981 Navedo worked at Worcester Vocational High School for 24 years where he was one of the first Spanish-speaking guidance counselors   His impact on his students is still felt today with many attributing their academic successes to his commitment to seeing them graduate He was also the proud recipient of several perfect attendance awards throughout his career.  His impact on the community didn’t stop there a community-focused organization dedicated to fostering deep bonds of friendship and brotherhood to promote peace and enhance the well-being of the community he founded a Worcester Chapter which continued the same mission Navedo was recognized for his efforts in organizing regular interchanges with various cities throughout Massachusetts and Puerto Rico where they would join together to play softball and celebrate cultural traditions and meals together Navedo re-established and incorporated the Roberto Clemente Softball League where teams and their families would join together at the Great Brook Valley baseball field known today as the Roberto Clemente Baseball Field off of East Mountain Street in Worcester he operated a small tax and bookkeeping business focused on helping local Latino businesses and individuals strive with diligence and expertise   He was just as committed to his clients as he was with his students Angel was a devoted family man who relished every moment spent with his loved ones who filled his life and heart with endless joy and laughter As a true Boston Red Sox fan and season ticket holder  Known to be accompanied by an ice-cold Coors Light and surrounded by friends and family he created lasting memories that will forever hold a special place in the hearts of many “Papi” as many called him is survived by his beloved children California; Olga Daisy Navedo of Worcester; and David Ramirez; his adored grandchildren Nilda Navedo-Blondet and Leyla Navedo-Bermudez; his former wife and dear friend of over 50 years The family would also like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Holy Trinity Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Worcester and Brookhaven Hospice for their compassionate care during Angel’s illness The care provided went beyond mere treatment becoming an integral part of the Navedo family offering not only support but also genuine companionship and compassion Your dedication made a profound difference during a difficult time and we will always hold a special place in our hearts for each of you as we know he has left the same impact on all of you A period of Calling Hours will be held Saturday from 9:00 am to 10:30 am in the MERCADANTE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL A funeral service will begin at 10:30 am with interment immediately following at Worcester County Memorial Park Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors SearchAES and Total Energies get federal financing for solar plants Guayama Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has granted a $861.3 million loan to Clean Flexible Energy LLC to finance the construction of two solar photovoltaic (PV) farms equipped with battery storage and two standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Puerto Rico The facilities will be located in the municipalities of Guayama (Jobos) and Salinas and will help deliver clean and affordable power throughout Puerto Rico The borrower is an indirect subsidiary of AES Corporation (AES) and TotalEnergies Holdings USA and is managed under a joint venture agreement between the two As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create good-paying high-quality job opportunities in communities across the country this project will support approximately 750 construction jobs and more than 50 full-time jobs once fully operational the project comprises 200 MW of solar PV and up to 285 MW (1,140 MWh) of stand-alone BESS capacity the solar installations will produce approximately 460,000 MWh of energy enough to power approximately 43,000 homes and enhance Puerto Rico’s grid reliability and energy security The co-location of the new solar and battery resources will help maximize the project’s energy production and improve grid stability Battery storage will allow the project to continue to provide energy to residents even during adverse weather conditions The operation of the solar and storage systems — collectively known as Project Marahu — is expected to eventually replace existing fossil fuel-based generation and reduce emissions by nearly 2.7 million tons of CO2e per year an amount roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of around 533,000 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles Project Marahu will play an integral role in improving Puerto Rico’s energy resilience and affordability while helping Puerto Rico meet its ambitious clean energy and climate goals The project will support replacing retired fossil fuel power plants reliant on imported fuel affordable electricity generated by this project will replace the power produced by Puerto Rico’s diesel and coal plants eliminating the pollution associated with those plants The project will generate power directly to Puerto Rico’s grid and provide energy storage benefits necessary for Puerto Rico’s goal of achieving 100% clean energy resources by 2050 The project also supports outgoing President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which established the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments Puerto Rican residents pay energy costs significantly higher than the U.S According to the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool including the communities surrounding the Salinas and Jobos projects faces some of the greatest energy burdens in the United States Widescale solar deployment can help benefit communities across the island by reducing Puerto Rico’s high energy costs LPO borrowers are also expected to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan that ensures meaningful community and labor engagement improves the well-being of residents and workers and incorporates strong labor standards during construction and throughout the life of the loan guarantee The Project Marahu team includes two community relations managers who are from the Guayama community and a group of local community engagement advisors Local labor leaders will be engaged for the construction and operations planning at both the Jobos and Salinas sites through existing facilities operating in Puerto Rico has forged partnerships with the Technological Institute and the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico — both of which are minority-serving institutions AES has also worked with The Trust for the Americas to lead capacity-building and entrepreneurship programs for Guayama and Salinas community members for six years and has formalized programs offering targeted training and career development opportunities for women The financing for this project would be through the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment  (EIR) program under Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Section 1706 Created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or enable operating energy infrastructure to avoid or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions In support of President Biden’s efforts to support economic revitalization in energy communities Project Marahu will assist in replacing coal energy infrastructure with clean energy facilities — creating new job opportunities while lowering harmful emissions The Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act (Act 17) requires Puerto Rico’s utility to cease all coal-fired energy generation by 2028 and shift to a 100% renewable energy mix by 2050 2022 Little League Softball® World Series – August 9-15 Guayama (Puerto Rico) Softball Little League was crowned the 2022 Latin America Region Champion defeating Gino Vega Little League (Sabana Grande to earn a spot at the Little League Softball® World Series this August A team from Puerto Rico last represented the Latin America Region at the Little League Softball World Series in 2017 when Softball Femenino de Coamo Little League held the honor Chartered with Little League International in 2018 this will be the first appearance for Guayama Softball Little League at the Little League Softball® World Series With first-round matchups for the 2022 LLSWS set, Guayama Softball Little League will square off in the Orange Bracket against the winner of Northwest vs In addition to the Host (North Carolina) team and four international regions (Asia-Pacific and West Regions and are rounded out with the existing Central SearchInter-American University to open meat & poultry workforce training centerThe San Juan Daily StarOct 1 20242 min readThe Barranquitas and Guayama campuses of Inter-American University of Puerto Rico are spearheading an initiative to establish a Meat and Poultry Processing Workforce Training Center.By The Star Staff With Puerto Rico producing less than 15% of the food it consumes the Barranquitas and Guayama campuses of Inter-American University of Puerto Rico are spearheading an initiative to establish a Meat and Poultry Processing Workforce Training Center Funded by a $950,000 Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grant in 2023 from the U.S Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) the four-year project aims to revitalize Puerto Rico’s agriculture sector by developing a skilled workforce in meat and poultry production and processing Yesenia Rivera Rivera said the project offers more than training is a business option for those interested in entering the meat industry in Puerto Rico with the skills and knowledge that make them competitive,” she said it guarantees Puerto Ricans fresh food from farm to table The project recognizes the vital role agriculture can play in ensuring food security generating employment and driving economic growth By focusing on meat and poultry production the initiative seeks to strengthen the supply chain for those essential animal-based proteins which are the main source of protein for Puerto Rico’s population and 21% of chicken consumed on the island are produced locally The new training center aims to boost those numbers reducing dependence on imports and enhancing food security The training center will be the first of its kind in Puerto Rico offering them specialized academic programs designed to meet industry standards Each campus will be equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories providing students with hands-on experience in meat and poultry processing at the industrial level The practical training will be complemented by online education ensuring that the programs are accessible to a wide range of students The initiative also includes partnerships with industry experts and the Small Business Technology Development Center to ensure that the curriculum is relevant and up-to-date A symposium on meat and poultry processing will be held as part of the project industry and farmers to share knowledge and best practices By investing in the education and training of a new generation of meat and poultry professionals the initiative will not only strengthen Puerto Rico’s agricultural sector but also will provide a pathway to economic growth and sustainability Rates of cancer and asthma have risen in Guayama since AES Corporation opened its coal-fired power plant are agitating for the closure of a coal plant operated by the Virginia-based multinational corporation AES citing research showing that local rates of cancer and asthma have increased substantially since the plant opened in 2002 Now the fight has spread to the mainland United States: in early May, media reported that AES coal ash is now being shipped to a landfill in Osceola County, Florida. Even as AES continues to plague communities in Puerto Rico it is now threatening to spread its poison to this Florida county with a large Puerto Rican community had seen cable news air footage after Hurricane Maria of black sludge rainwater mixed with thick coal ash from the plant pouring from drainage pipes into the sea in the nearby town of Peñuelas but we didn’t yet know the full extent of the coal ash catastrophe These findings are worrisomely similar to the effects of the Guayama coal ash that was for a time exported to the Dominican Republic for disposal, where it also severely poisoned communities there medical director at a local hospital who has practiced in Guayama since 1979 shared that in the years since the plant opened he saw incidences of diseases linked to coal ash skyrocket as he’d never before seen in his many decades of practice in the area Community organizers pleaded for people within and outside of Guayama to speak out and demand that the government force AES to stop its harm and make amends The researchers and organizers concluded their forum with a final urgent recommendation: to close the AES plant immediately live in the Miramar neighborhood of Guayama Raising their two children there and seeing the effects on their health motivated them to join the efforts against AES Colón was also diagnosed with kidney cancer in his mid-30s — a diagnosis that he thinks might not have happened if the coal plant had not moved to town — with his doctors telling him they were used to seeing the disease in people in their 60s and 70s and they channeled their anger and pain into their activism getting people to pay attention to what was happening and take action to stop it The organizers offered to take us to see the plant up close We followed as they expertly navigated their car down the neglected public road just outside the coal plant’s fence Now we could see the mountains of coal ash towering stories high in the middle of the plant Each gust of wind blew a cloud of ash westward toward the road where we stood and past us into the residential neighborhoods of Guayama noses and sinuses reacting to the ash-filled air an especially disturbing sensation given what we’d just learned about how this ash had been poisoning the people here for the past 17 years AES was supposed to cover up the ash with tarps to try to contain it This strategy was flimsy at best: imagine how little plastic tarps can actually do to contain 120-foot mountains of ash during a Category 5 hurricane further polluting the air and the waters around Guayama and sending ash from the dumps in Peñuelas pouring out of drainage pipes into the Caribbean Sea ending three months earlier than originally planned — but ultimately bringing the same amount of toxic waste into the area a fair amount of the organizing around the coal ash issue is happening via Facebook A group created for the community response in Osceola County includes information about the companies involved; news of the most recent developments; information on how to obtain signs buttons and stickers; and encouragement to attend county commission meetings Some comments posted to the Osceloa County group’s page complain that “they” or “you,” meaning Puerto Ricans should “clean up your own garbage” from the coal power consumed on the archipelago with arguments that Florida shouldn’t be taking in “foreign” waste Others repeatedly respond that AES is a U.S company; that Puerto Rico is not currently a foreign nation; that the people of Puerto Rico have been protesting the coal plant for years and demanding renewable clean energy sources; and that AES and other fossil-fuel profiteers spend massive amounts of money ensuring that their business continues unchecked livelihoods and communities were destroyed by the storm When I first saw the Osceola news in the Guayama Facebook group I commented about how many Puerto Ricans live in the area One poster responded that “this environmentally criminal corporation seems to have something personal against Puerto Ricans.” The connection isn’t lost on others. One Puerto Rican now living in Osceola called the development a “double whammy.” And in a Sierra Club statement “The people of Puerto Rico didn’t fight for years to get this toxic pollution removed from our communities just so AES could turn around and force their poison on Puerto Ricans in Florida Now AES wants to dump their pollution in the very place that people fled to for safety.” These policies are influenced by corporate lobbyists invested in everyone believing that Puerto Rico has no choice but to rely on imported toxic and environment-destroying fossil fuels like coal Nine years might seem like a short amount of time to AES and others profiting from their coal plant but nine more years is an intolerably long time for the residents of Guayama who are being sickened by breathing and drinking the ash And the 31 years until the promised full conversion to renewable energy is far too long for a people who suffered so greatly when their centralized fossil-fuel-based power grid was decimated by Hurricane Maria leaving only the few solar-powered locations across the archipelago as beacons of light and life-saving electricity The AES Puerto Rico plant must be forced to stop burning coal now AES must be forced to dispose of the toxic coal ash in the most responsible The centralized Puerto Rican power grid must shift toward renewable energy immediately the citizens of Puerto Rico should be assisted in developing their own solar microgrids and other locally controlled sources of renewable electricity that can endure in the face of hurricanes like Maria we are witnessing a terrifying array of anti-democratic tactics to silence political opposition increase surveillance and expand authoritarian reach Truthout is appealing for your support as Trump and his sycophants crack down on political speech Nonprofits like Truthout could be caught in Trump’s crosshairs as he attacks dissenting groups with bad faith lawsuits and targeted harassment of journalists these attacks come at a time when independent journalism is most needed The right-wing corporate takeover of media has left reliable outlets few and far between with even fewer providing their work at no cost to the reader Who will be there to hold the fascists to account We ask for your support as we doggedly pursue justice through our reporting Truthout is funded overwhelmingly by readers like you Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation today Jack Aponte is a gender/queer Boricua living in Oakland, California. Follow them on Twitter: @jackaponte As Trump and his sycophants work to silence political dissent independent media is a key part of the resistance Support our work by making a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout today Mudslides and heaps of debris continue to complicate recovery efforts Fiona — which arrived just days before the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria — brought renewed attention to Puerto Rico’s crumbling grid and the failure of government agencies and utility companies to build a more resilient electricity system Energy experts and community organizers have urged officials for years not to build back the existing fossil-fuel-powered grid and invest instead in rooftop solar arrays battery storage systems and microgrids to prevent more sweeping blackouts That investment has yet to happen, but in the meantime, business owners, residents and nonprofits are leading their own grassroots solar movement in Puerto Rico Tens of thousands of rooftop solar systems with batteries have been installed since 2017 when Maria all but destroyed the island’s electric grid and left people without power for weeks and even more than a year in some places This week, those rooftop solar systems were put to the test for the first time as Fiona brought Category 1 winds and catastrophic flooding to the island of 3.2 million people is among the ​“fortunate few” that still have power thanks to her solar-plus-battery system ​“It’s a proof of concept” that the system works during disasters she said on a September 20 press call Santiago lives in the southern coastal city of Guayama where a flooded river destroyed a bridge and houses and where many utility customers are still without electricity She criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for failing to invest in distributed renewable-energy-powered systems that could benefit the wider population — not just people who can afford to install their own solar panels and batteries at home According to recent reports, federal recovery dollars haven’t gone far in general. Of the $9.5 billion allocated for grid repairs after Maria, only about $40 million has been disbursed, a FEMA administrator told Bloomberg “It’s very frustrating to see that millions of people are without power unnecessarily,” Santiago said Some Puerto Ricans with rooftop solar did experience minor glitches this past week, an inevitable part of adopting new technology. Karla Zambrana, the general manager in Puerto Rico for Sunnova Energy said that the ongoing power outage offered important lessons on how to manage the equipment in challenging circumstances heavy rain and dense clouds engulfed Puerto Rico for days That reduced the amount of sunlight beaming down on solar panels in turn limiting the amount of energy stored in batteries Some households depleted their batteries overnight and used up the ​“critical charge” level needed to get the solar-panel system working again once the sunlight returned Sunnova sent crews of technicians out to essentially reboot customers’ inverters using a high-capacity portable battery so they could start harnessing and storing solar energy “We have to better educate customers on how to maximize the usage of the battery and how to become more efficient when it comes to energy management,” Zambrana said by phone from the San Juan suburb of Guaynabo those households represent a fraction of Sunnova’s 30,000 customers in Puerto Rico Around 97 percent of customers’ batteries had a positive allowing them to continue powering refrigerators vital medical equipment and other essential devices that use electricity She said she wasn’t aware of any solar panels or batteries being damaged by the hurricane or subsequent flooding “Having a backup solution has really become a need for Puerto Ricans — something we didn’t have before Hurricane Maria,” Zambrana said Another solar developer, Sunrun said its battery fleet in Puerto Rico had provided more than 15,000 hours of backup power to thousands of customers as of September 20 but a significant portion of our customers have seen over 40 hours of backup power,” said Chris Rauscher Sunrun’s senior director of market development That figure suggests customers ​“have been able to power through the prolonged outages for several days with solar recharging their batteries during the daytime,” he added the struggle to restore power to all of Puerto Rico is drawing scrutiny from local leaders and state officials Congress to avoid repeating its mistakes from the previous five years,” Casa Pueblo says in the letter home to Puerto Rico’s only coal-burning power plant for 15 years heart and respiratory diseases that they fear are related to coal ash exposure Ivette Feliciano reports on the concerns of Puerto Ricans who say the situation grew worse after Hurricane Maria--and the national implications as President Donald Trump’s administration rolls back regulations on the disposal of coal ash Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy The city of Guayama sits near Puerto Rico's southeast coast Half its population of more than twenty thousand lives below the poverty line the city was hit hard by Hurricane Maria last fall But the people here have problems beyond poverty and storm damage Alberto Colon is a retired maintenance worker in Miramar He suffers from sinusitis and has developed an abscess on his chest a truck pulls away from a home where it has delivered medical supplies People complain about diseases like asthma if a person here got cancer you would say: "My God Colon believes he knows the source of his neighborhood's suffering Miramar sits downwind from Puerto Rico's only coal-burning power plant—and a 120 foot-high mound of an industrial product the plant generates by burning coal Residents here say the wind carries ash residue from the mound into their community says their home's surfaces are covered in a thin layer of ash residue Natividad Perez Burgos—who also lives in the neighborhood—was diagnosed with cancer in both her lungs and her liver five years ago And she suffers from skin lesions on her torso I'm fighting harder now because I'm not the only one who's been hurt in my community According to a recent survey by the University of Puerto Rico's School of Public Health almost one in ten people in the community have been diagnosed with cancer We are in direct contact with the pro– with the coal combustion products on a daily basis I have been working in the plant for 16 years And– we– we are– we are healthy Elias Sostre is operations manager at the coal plant the plant has supplied nearly twenty percent of Puerto Rico's electricity And according to an audit by the Puerto Rican government the AES plant saved the island more than 500 million dollars in its first five years alone Sostre says it's also a model of environmental efficiency We got here the best available technology to produce power we set the standard for the lowest emissions the number of Guayama cancer cases hovered at about 100 per year But within a year of the plant's 2002 opening The most recent figures show that new cancer cases have stayed near that level the company was producing Agremax from coal ash Coal ash has trace amounts of heavy metals including arsenic and mercury–substances that can become hazardous if there is enough present the plant produces 220-thousand tons of coal ash a year But in the company's original contract with Puerto Rico's electric authority unless it had a beneficial commercial use–which it did The plant mixed coal ash with water to create Agremax that concrete-like material that sits outside the plant AES marketed Agremax for use in Puerto Rican roads and construction over two million tons of the material was used in thirty-three sites on the island between 2004 and 2012 Gerson Jimenez Castañón is the medical director for Menonita medical center the only hospital in Puerto Rico's southeast region He says he began to see a higher influx of patients two to three years after the coal-burning plant was built We were seeing patients coming in with more respiratory problems—and not just respiratory problems Did you immediately connect that change to the plant was that something that you assumed was happening Many of the other plants had already closed and that was the only new one there's no proven link between coal ash and Guayama's health problems government has done no definitive study regarding coal ash's potential effects on human health A 2014 Environmental Protection Agency ruling regulated coal ash as non-hazardous solid waste But environmental groups decried the ruling The New York Times called it "a victory for electric utility companies and the coal industry." a University of Illinois study linked coal ash to increases in asthma and lung cancer published in 2014 by the advocacy groups Earthjustice and Physicians for Social Justice linked the material to increases in heart and respiratory diseases By that time AES had stopped marketing Agremax But it does still convert coal ash into Agremax in order to legally dispose of it in approved landfills on the island Alberto Colon says you can still see coal dust from Agremax where it was used as a filler on dirt roads Right now we have the roads here that are filled in with it so much that once they become dry you can see the ash moving freely on the surface That same ash is going from the road into the air and it will eventually go to the water where it will contaminate the aquifer Local fear of contamination from the coal ash has become so widespread that protesters have gathered along the roads when the material is shipped from the plant The government has employed police in riot gear to protect the trucks transporting Agremax an environmental researcher from the University of Puerto Rico School of Public Health He says that Agremax could contaminate ground water at sites where it was used–especially after an event like Hurricane Maria María was the strongest hurricane to hit the island In a few weeks fifteen inches of rain fell and all those heavy metals that are in the ash are soluble in water and it leaches through the subsoil and pollutes the aquifer Bonilla points to a 2012 EPA-commissioned analysis of Agremax by Vanderbilt University Agremax has the potential to leach substances such as arsenic and chromium at over a hundred times the levels the EPA considers acceptable for drinking water the EPA said the study "did not assess the health effects of Agremax" itself and "the only conclusion that should be drawn from the sampling analysis report is that contaminants can leach from this material at these levels under certain conditions." says the EPA report has been used by environmental and health advocates to stoke unjustified fears She heads Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board Vazquez says the EQB has offered to hold events to discuss Agremax with the public "We can go to a scientific forum with scientific data and explain it." We don't want more incorrect information over there creatin'—creating panic to people that already—if you have somebody that's sick in your house and somebody tells you to– who to blame you g—really gonna be passionate about it Vazquez points out that Guayama had been an industrial center for decades before AES arrived She says that any number of substances from former and current plants and factories could play a role in the health problems facing people there She notes that just a mile and a half away from Alberto Colon's neighborhood of Miramar are two pharmaceutical plants and a superfund site that has been operating since 1999 Vazquez also says that AES consistently sends her agency measurements of coal ash components and that up to now they've always stayed within the EQB's safety standards So they were complying with it all the time He says he has petitioned the Puerto Rican government to do a study on the effects of coal ash from the AES plant I have participated in at least eight or nine public hearings of the Puerto Rican legislature I've written to them and others about the problem and risk that this plant represents I even asked on several occasions that the Department of Health or the government do a scientific study on the higher incidences of these cases and they have not done anything despite all the information that we have provided them with about the problems this causes New findings have added fuel to the debate over coal ash Last month AES released its most recent groundwater monitoring report It showed that between September 12th and October 4th of last year and even two radioactive isotopes had increased dramatically in groundwater near the coal plant's large mound of Agremax That increase took place around the time Hurricane Maria hit the island The Environmental Quality Board had ordered AES to cover the Agremax pile before the storm It was—it was not necessary to co—to cover the pile And the fact is that after a category—a category five hurricane coming by island way and form before and after the hurricane Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board has ordered AES to send it more information on its latest groundwater readings back in the Miramar neighborhood in Guayama locals gather to discuss their concerns about the coal ash–and their neighborhood's future I think about my grandchildren and I think about the suffering that these people have gone through Because now it is our people but tomorrow it could be theirs because we are on the same island produces and reports on camera for PBS NewsHour Weekend she worked as a one-person-band correspondent for the News 12 Networks where she won a New York Press Club Award for her coverage of Super Storm Sandy Ivette was the Associate Producer of Latin American news for Worldfocus daily international news show seen on Public Television Ivette served as the show’s Field Producer and Reporter for Latin America covering special reports on the Mexican drug war as well as a 5-part series out of Bolivia which included an interview with President Evo Morales she co-produced a documentary series on New York’s baseball history that aired on Channel Thirteen Ivette holds a Master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she specialized in broadcast journalism Zachary Green began working in online and broadcast news in 2009 Since then he has produced stories all over the U.S he has reported on a wide variety of topics He also produced a series on guaranteed income programs in the U.S and won a 2015 National Headliner Award in business and consumer reporting for his report on digital estate planning Zachary was an Associate Producer for Need to Know on PBS during which he assisted in producing stories on gun violence and healthcare He also provided narration for the award-winning online documentary series © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins Roberto Joubert stepped off the mound and made his way toward the Puerto Rico dugout as miniature Puerto Rican flags waved in tandem with fatheads of each player The Puerto Rico faithful consisted of no more than 60 or 70 people yet their passion could be felt throughout the 3,000-seat ballpark Ortiz has watched this Radames Lopez Little League team from Guayama win championships together at every age level since they were 5 a 3-1 win over Panama in an elimination game But even he struggled to picture this scene 11 months ago "It's been a really really really tough year," Ortiz said we really didn't know whether or not we were going to play baseball." the Ortiz family didn't have a place to call home Star catcher John Lopez had to scramble to rebuild his family's fritter business Because the island's entire power grid was knocked out pitcher Yadiel Delgado couldn't contact his father in Florida for weeks Guayama was forced to come to grips with its new reality the Little Leaguers dedicated themselves to whipping their local baseball diamonds into shape "The first goal was to bring some recreation to the kids not to think about what happened at their houses," manager Carlos Texidor said through an interpreter Communicating without a functioning power grid and traveling through debris proved to be difficult they had to cope with fields that were in anything but pristine condition they could only play during the day — which is generally avoided in the hot Caribbean climate — and had to share the fields with many neighboring communities the determined group of 11- and 12-year-olds kept showing up they're the first team in Radames Lopez Little League's rich history to make it to the Little League World Series just go ahead," Delgado said through an interpreter The team has lost just twice this summer and went undefeated throughout the Caribbean Regional They will face another win-or-you're-out game on Tuesday and still have to string together three victories to get to the tournament final Sunday Lopez said he isn't ready for it all to end "I love to be here," he said through an interpreter "I'm really comfortable here and if it's up to me He's not the only one invested in the team Minnesota Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario has followed the story of his former league diligently The Guayama native video chats with coaches and players on a near-daily basis and was on hand when Major League Baseball donated $75,000 to Little League International in April "I feel really proud for my guys and for Puerto Rico and my city," Rosario told The Associated Press in Minnesota last weekend When asked about their favorite part of this journey or interaction with a major leaguer that stood out Representative and mayoral candidate Luis “Narmito” Ortiz Lugo and his wife Judith Alvarado Ruiz greet supporters in Guayama, Puerto Rico, Friday, May 6, 2022. (Luis R. “Narmito” Ortiz Lugo/Facebook) Puerto Rico last week in the run-up to the town’s special mayoral election on Saturday The flyer showed the face of candidate Luis “Narmito” Ortiz Lugo who has been a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives since 2013 ¿El racismo no existe en #PuertoRico Ah, ok. pic.twitter.com/ce5mJsrS5X — Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) May 6, 2022 “¿Quieres que este NEGRO sea el próximo alcalde de Guayama?” (Do you want this BLACK MAN to be the next mayor of Guayama?) the flyer read “NO PERMITAS QUE GUAYAMA SE PINTE DE NEGRITO,” the flyer continued meaning: Don’t let Guayama be painted Black The flyer concluded with a call to “Vote for O’brain.” was the deputy mayor of Guayama heading into Saturday’s election He appeared on Saturday’s ballot alongside Ortiz Lugo and Kia Rosario who heads the nonprofit Angel Wings Foundation Ballot for the special mayoral election held in Guayama, Puerto Rico, on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (El Nuevo Día) in which Cintrón Suárez received money in exchange for approving contracts and invoices for J.R which is characterized by being highly focused on results for the good of guayameses does not promote that type of propaganda at all,” read a statement from the Vázquez Molina campaign Both candidates are of the Black race and proudly so Whoever produced this made a serious mistake that contributes nothing to a serious and high-profile campaign.” also distanced the party from the flyer’s racist rhetoric “It’s a tactic that I totally condemn,” he said Vázquez Molina ultimately won Saturday’s special election a southern town of more than 36,000 residents on Puerto Rico’s Caribbean coast “My congratulations to Guayama Mayor-elect O’Brian [sic] Vázquez Molina, and I reiterate both to him and to the entire town that I will continue from the House of Representatives attending to the needs of District 30 of Arroyo, Guayama and Salinas,” Ortiz Lugo said in a Facebook post on Saturday Hector Luis Alamo is the Senior Editor at Latino Rebels and hosts the Latin[ish] podcast. Twitter: @HectorLuisAlamo One has to be an imbecile to think that black man O’Brain really was the one behind this campaign calling black man Luis Ramón a black man to get us to vote for black man O’Brain Whoever doesn’t want O’brain to win this is infantile stupidity and latinorebels takes advantage of this to push a narrative of racism in Puerto Rico Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Hernandez Aguila of Warner Robins passed into the arms of her Heavenly Father on Wednesday she was the daughter of the late Benigno Hernandez and Ramona Ines Morales She was married to her late husband Rafael Aguila-Galan and she followed him to the United States where he had a long career in the United States Army loving mother and adored all of her grandchildren she had the opportunity to travel the world She was a faithful member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church Benigno Hernandez and Ramona Ines Morales Hernandez as well as her husband of 64 years Her memory will forever be cherished by her sons Taw-nee Roberts (Brandon) of Warner Robins and Gabe Aguila of Warner Robins; and 12 great-grandchildren Visitation with Iris Aguila's family will be from 10:00 a.m the funeral service to celebrate her life will immediately follow at 11:00 a.m in the chapel of McCullough Funeral Home with Father Fred Nijem officiating Iris Aguila will be laid to rest at Magnolia Park Cemetery The service will be streamed live via the McCullough Funeral Home Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcculloughfuneralhome/live/ A family-only reception will be held at The Farmhouse at McCullough Funeral Home following the graveside service The family will accept flowers or donations may be made in Iris Aguila’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association Learn more about the measures McCullough Funeral Home is taking to ensure the health and safety of our guests at www.mcculloughfh.com There you can also sign an Online Registry for the family McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements Add to Calendar the new executive director of the Convention of Southern Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico 6 sermon at Bautista Sin Paredes in Guayama Puerto Rico (BP) — Longtime church planter Luis Soto pastor of Iglesia Bautista Sin Paredes in Guayama is the new executive director of the Convention of Southern Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico (CSBCPR) “We are experiencing historic days at the Puerto Rico convention and we thank God for what he is doing and will continue to do in the coming years,” Soto told Baptist Press CSBCPR executive members elected Soto to the post Jan 10 to lead the convention of 52 Southern Baptist churches On the island of 3.4 million people dispersed among 78 municipalities 40 cities do not have a Southern Baptist church according to figures from the North American Mission Board (NAMB) Soto continues as a NAMB Send Network church planting catalyst and as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Sin Paredes in Guayama He formerly served eight years as a NAMB church planter in Utah where he planted and pastored Roca de los Siglos in Salt Lake City and Gracia Eterna in West Valley “My plan is to continue working with NAMB to see more churches that preach the Gospel to all of Puerto Rico,” Soto said “and see hundreds of thousands of people … come to the feet of Christ.” In addition to growing the number of Southern Baptist churches on the island Soto has goals aimed at increasing and improving discipleship international missions and prison ministry he would like to lead Puerto Rican Southern Baptists to increase giving to the Cooperative Program from $80,000 to $100,000; start a chaplaincy ministry in state prisons and train men for prison ministry; better equip pastors in discipleship leadership development and biblical counseling; and offer alternatives to theological studies spanning from certificates to doctorate degrees through a partnership with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth Soto would like to lead Puerto Rican Southern Baptists to continue supporting international missionaries from Puerto Rico to continue to provide various resources for pastors’ wives and to motivate churches to continue supporting North American and international missions in financial giving and prayer As executive director, Soto succeeds Felix Cabrera, senior director of Send Network Español and associate director of Hispanic Programs at SWBTS “We had our hands full for the past three years (the COVID-19) pandemic and (are) still recovering from hurricanes,” Cabrera told Puerto Rican Southern Baptists in announcing his resignation as executive director our convention is in a healthy position and ready to continue fulfilling the Great Commission that our Lord Jesus Christ left us in Matthew 28.” Soto is earning a Doctor of Ministry degree from SWBTS He holds a Master of Theology degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree in social work from the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico He and his wife Beatriz Castillo have two children daughter Eliana Valentina and son Samuel Adrián Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer © 2025 Southern Baptist Convention. Site by Mere Maria is the sixth hurricane to have formed in the Atlantic Basin this season Rainfall on many of the islands on Maria’s path could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) has convened in advance of Hurricane Maria and has already placed 20 provinces on alert for hurricane conditions Authorities are evaluating priority evacuation zones The present map shows the flood delineation in the area of Guayama (Puerto Rico (U.S.)) The thematic layer has been derived from post-event satellite image using a semi-automatic approach The estimated geometric accuracy is 40 m CE90 or better from native positional accuracy of the background satellite image 2021 at 9:57 pm ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Jonathan Navarro-Gomez was arrested on Monday in Guayama NH — A New Hampshire Fugitive of the Week was arrested in Puerto Rico on Monday Jonathan Navarro-Gomez was wanted on charges of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and was featured in late February "several tips were received" by the task force leading investigators to Puerto Rico territory were contacted and the tip info shared this information led to Navarro-Gomez's location but he was able to flee prior to being arrested," White said Marshals-Puerto Rico Violent Offenders Task Force paid off — they were able to locate and arrest Navarro-Gomez without incident even though he had changed his appearance after he had fled from authorities a couple of weeks earlier." Navarro-Gomez was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo for processing and holding pending his initial court appearance in U.S Rockingham and Strafford county sheriff's offices and marshals in both New Hampshire and Puerto Rico Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the U.S. Marshals Service and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. More than just attending to the physical constraints the mall fulfills other cultural and community needs relaunches its brand as part of a new vision aimed at continuing to evolve according to industry trends globally and as part of the celebration of its 25th anniversary giving way to a new era in its continuous contribution to the economic development of the southeast region under the name of Céntrico This native Puerto Rican commercial property presents a new and wider community commercial concept more services and more entertainment for the enjoyment of the residents of the area that as Plaza Guayama has always been noted for its commitment to excellence in service and products has invested in a comprehensive remodeling that includes new air conditioning units interior acoustic ceiling and new slabs in the El Mirador Food Court area Céntrico’s Management has invested in new furniture new façades and improvements to the lighting system a “lounge” area with facilities for “wi-fi” connection to be known as “The Hub” as well as an entertainment area with stage and facilities for shows or artistic presentations As a result of the renovation and improvements Céntrico's workforce will have an estimated staff of 400 people Email notifications are only sent once a day Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: ST. JUAN, Puerto Rico, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Film and television actor Luis Guzman is calling on Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno to block a proposed primate-breeding farm in Guayama and I own property and spend a great deal of time on the island so this feels rather personal to me," Guzman wrote in the letter which has expressed strong opposition to the monkey farm I'm worried about the potential environmental and economic consequences of this project." The committee said a primate supply company in Maritius plans to take long-tailed macaques from the forests there breed them in Puerto Rico and sell the offspring for use in product-testing and experiments by Ruth “Tata” Santiago, JD (lawyer) and member of the Iniciativa de Eco Desarrollo de Bahía de Jobos (IDEBAJO) a grassroots environmental group in southern Puerto Rico PUERTO RICO — My husband Roland wakes me up to the tune of “no water today.” I suspected as much when I noticed the low water pressure during my nighttime visit to the bathroom I guess the electric generator that was powering the water pump ran out of diesel or gas or maybe it malfunctioned It’s been on for the past two weeks and presumably they’re supposed to be used only for emergencies the medical director at Guayama’s hospital (the only hospital still operating in the municipality of 45,000 people and serves as a regional medical facility) said he’s afraid his generators will malfunction any day now because they’re only meant to operate for 72 hours at a time I thought things were bad without electricity I am using one of the few bottled waters we were able to buy at the local supermarket after We stored water in buckets prior to the hurricane to use for the toilets but now the water looks as if there are organisms growing in it I look through my clothes to see which pants are less dirty among the pants I’m using in this post-hurricane period I have a lot of old underwear and even though some are a little small now that I’ve lost a few pounds they fit again—I guess being forced to be on a diet is one good thing about this hurricane-harried life I eat oatmeal with almond milk for breakfast I made it last night by mixing the ingredients and leaving it in a glass bowl covered overnight We’ve discovered that almond milk doesn’t go bad from one day to the next We stocked up on dry goods and canned food before the hurricane I wonder what people who have more limited budgets have done This week we heard that food rations are being handed out in long lines at the Salinas City Hall Aerial view of damage in Puerto Rico (Public Domain) My plan for today is to get cash from my local co-op account because we are running very low on cash we paid (a very reasonable price) to have the downed vegetation cleaned from the backyard a group of neighbors opened up access to our street and removed uprooted trees We made a seafood stew and handed them bowls and beverages in exchange for the neighborhood road cleanup The two guys who cleaned out our backyard also started out as volunteers but now they are charging nominal fees to cut up the fallen tree trunks and branches with amazing talent and speed Cash is needed to pay for almost everything co-ops and other financial institutions are the longest I’ve ever seen I noticed that the Banco Popular lines are especially long My husband hasn’t been able to use his debit card to withdraw any funds but you can only withdraw up to $300 per day The workers helping out with the cleanup and repairs to houses and cars need to be paid in cash on a daily basis so for many people the line to withdraw funds is a daily chore It’s raining fairly hard right now and the gutters look like small streams I convinced the manager to allow me to withdraw two days’ worth of funds I noticed that many of the small shops were closed Maybe they ran out of fuel for electric generators or they didn’t have generators in the first place Many people do not own generators because they are pricey I think about getting a snack at a local bakery but then I remember that they only have white bread processed “cheese food,” ham or other cold cuts and no fruits or vegetables I stopped by the house of a Convivencia Ambiental (our environmental summer Camp) youth leader who told me that she has decided to leave Puerto Rico so that she can finish her last year of high school in Allentown She decided this was her best option because she feels that even though the public schools are scheduled to reopen on October 16 the schools will be on a half-day schedule with likely no electricity because the school is currently being used as a shelter for people who lost or sustained damage to their homes We talk about how rooftop solar units could be so beneficial at schools and other places that operate mostly during the day Her mom asks me to draft a document ceding temporary custody to the family member that she’ll be living with in Allentown I’ve had several high school and college students ask me for help with paperwork and information about how to transfer to academic institutions in the States Hurricane María is contributing to Puerto Rico’s on-going brain drain I look daily for a spot that has a working electric generator and I sit there with my computer to prepare the paperwork for members of my community The fumes and noise from diesel generators are a huge problem I heat up some pre-made Indian packaged food that I had stocked up on before the hurricane I use a small gas stove that my 86-year-old mother has kept in her home for years “in case of emergency.” I wonder what people without gas stoves are doing to eat a hot meal I’ve heard that some people are scavenging and then burning the wood debris scattered by the storm from houses and light poles and from who knows what I don’t own disposable plates because I keep plastic use to a minimum and I’m trying to keep the water in the buckets to flush the toilet I don’t want to touch the water in the buckets because of the organisms growing in it But should I use the gas I have in my stove for that Roland is trying to figure out how to get the right front tire of his car filled or repaired The roads are full of potholes and it is taking a toll on the tires and possibly on the car parts He heads out to find a garage with an air compressor and then heads to work He is only working in the afternoons because Guayama’s courthouse was badly damaged He and his colleagues are discussing the new logistics of handling felony cases in the small courthouse in Salinas Half jokingly they pose the idea that perhaps they should interview their clients in their cars who works at a large pharmaceutical company has not been able to work at the plant because of serious damage to the structure and the lack of electric power She purchased a large electric generator for her home that she’ll be installing as soon as she can locate an electrician and otherwise work out the logistics I see that my sister is in the process of bringing plastic buckets outside to collect rain-water for flushing her toilet such as frontline communities in Salinas in the island’s southern region have not been reached by the various aid efforts Tata Santiago, a long-time member of the Iniciativa de Eco Desarrollo de Bahía de Jobos (IDEBAJO) who survived Hurricane María and who lives in Puerto Rico shared the following information with Hilda Lloréns who summarized the conversation with diaspora-IDEBAJO supporters in an October 6 email: Right now, we (Ruth “Tata” Santiago and IDEBAJO) are trying to set up a command center in Salinas to get solar-powered lamps to folks and to hook up the El Coquí’s community center’s refrigerators to solar generators to store medicine and ice (ice is hard to find right now) Salinas and the southern part of PR has not received any aid as of today The American Red Cross came to Salinas yesterday and set up a satellite antenna in the main square (plaza) for a few hours so that residents could make phone calls AT&T and Claro have also been setting up antennas for a few hours each evening in Guayama’s convention center FEMA also went to the plaza to hand out forms for folks to make claims When the night falls (and in PR night falls at 6pm this time of year) etc.) are running out at the stores; there is no ice; people are having a hard time keeping medicine cool; people are living in parts of their houses that were not blown away by the storm; and gas is hard to come by People are having a hard time just getting around and those who have generators are hardly keeping the generators running because of lack of access to diesel The frequency and severity of the extreme weather events that hit the Caribbean and other areas this hurricane season are likely linked to anthropogenic global climate disruption which burdens with disproportionate effects those communities that are ill-equipped to “bounce back,” as resilience discourses would have it These communities contribute very little to CO>2 emissions but are bearing the brunt of the consequences fueled by our carbon-based economy These communities consume less of the energy that is produced in their backyards because they can’t afford the electricity bills and yet they pay a high price with their health and the health of their environments and as we are witnessing in the aftermath of hurricane María the last to receive aid when they need it most They work with precious few resources and rely on volunteer work in their struggle to safeguard their environment and to provide a healthier life for current and future generations they have determined that the most pressing need involves establishing a solar-powered community-level energy grid that can enable them to self-organize without depending completely on central government recovery efforts […] on the plan and an organizer with the Jobos Bay Eco-Development Initiative which is developing a community solar system in the […] […] collaborator on the plan and an organizer with the Jobos Bay Eco-Development Initiative which is developing a community solar system in the […] […] YORK (AP) — Five years after Hurricane María slammed into Puerto Rico and exposed the funding problems the Caribbean island has long faced WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Thousands sought shelter in Puerto Rico hit the Caribbean island just short of a Category 5 storm Sept Ricardo Rossello said the hurricane had the potential of being the "most catastrophic hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in a century." the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S The Weather Channel said up to 1 million on the island of 3.4 million were without power early Sept some worry about the island's ability to recover since it already is facing billions in debt from years of financial mismanagement A disaster modeler for Enki Research in Savannah told Bloomberg news that Maria could cause up to $30 billion in damage to Puerto Rico The local Catholic Charities agency in the U.S Virgin Islands was assisting people who lost their homes during Hurricane Irma and others who sought protection from Hurricane Maria Catholic Charities of the Virgin Islands traditionally operates soup kitchens and shelters for homeless people on St and shelters on the islands were full as Hurricane Maria struck Sept Writing in a post on the Catholic Charities USA website Sept former director of Catholic Charities of the Virgin Islands had delivered a $50,000 check and $20,000 in gift cards from the Alexandria No immediate reports on the impact of Hurricane Maria on the three main islands of the small territory were available Sept 20 other than that Akin reported the shelters were full before the storm hit In the days following Hurricane Irma's strike on St increased its outreach and soup kitchen service Limited electricity was being supplied by small generators "We are serving between 200 and 300 people a day," the post quoted Andrea Shillingford The extra demand has placed a strain on the agency adding that "the only assistance we have received is from the Catholic Church and Catholic Charities USA." CRS was preparing to go into the same areas affected by Hurricane Irma in early September once Hurricane Maria's moved away from the Antilles the agency's emergency communications director 20 that communications with staff and partner agencies in the Caribbean islands had been severed by the latest storm bishop's overseas relief and development agency has been working in Antigua Dominican Republic and Cuba since Irma left homes Brennan said some of the same communities in the Antilles "The severity of the storms and winds were devastation especially in areas hit by Hurricane Irma," Brennan said people still recovering from Irma were again seeking shelter "We anticipate most likely to provide shelter support and basic supplies for people out of homes," Brennan said you can anticipate similar devastation for storms like this in a similar backdrop." CRS also was working with Netherlands-based Caritas International partners in St which continued to recover from Irma's punch said that after what the locals saw from Irma "they are scared" because Hurricane Maria also was expected to hit the island trying to secure buildings that were damaged by Irma and getting supplies Families are opening homes to neighbors and others whose homes were destroyed," Schweitzer said in a news release from CRS but things here are already bad," Schweitzer said "I've never seen anything like this in terms of the destruction Password reset instructions will be sent to your registered email address As a frequent reader of our website, you know how important America’s voice is in the conversation about the church and the world. We can't do it without you—America Media relies on generous support from our readers. 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Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions PUERTO RICO — Alberto Ramos Rivera wants his house back but his health prevents him from removing the pieces of wood and other accumulating debris that have kept his home unlivable for more than two months María Sánchez was offered an apartment in a public housing complex but restrictions on her son’s probation don’t allow her to live there Pascual Ofray prefers the streets of Salinas instead of living in the shelter he was sent to—which is far away from the town he knows and loves These examples reflect the complexity of a process attempting to address housing needs as a result of Hurricane María’s destruction in Puerto Rico For some of the nearly 900 people who still live in shelters established by the government almost three months after the hurricane efforts to identify suitable housing alternatives —even temporary ones— have been slower than expected there are those who believe that the process has been anything but dignified because it has lacked sensitivity and has not taken people’s needs into account He currently spends his days and nights in San Juan’s only open shelter—the indoor court located at the headquarters of the Department of Recreation and Sports (DRD) His house is in Bayamón’s Guaraguao neighborhood but all the shelters in that municipality were closed several weeks ago The DRD court is Ramos Rivera’s fifth shelter since he left his home to seek help the day after the storm “The people who really need help are not getting help Look here [pointing to different areas in the shelter] people who receive monthly assistance [from the government],” he told the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) With Social Security as his only source of income Ramos Rivera explained that when the Bayamón shelters closed the municipal government offered to pay two months rent for a house He said the government promised to remove the debris around his house so he could live in it “I’ve wanted to leave here so many times as he let out a laugh that he immediately suppressed and hurl the occasional ‘coño’ and ‘carajo’.” life in the shelter becomes more stressful and hostile for Ramos Rivera He tries to add a little “normal” to his routine with music and coffee He managed to rescue his espresso machine from the trail of debris left by the hurricane he prepares the drink to comfort him and his companions on nearby cots Those are the things that try to bring you back to normal bring you back to life: coffee and music,” says Ramos Rivera who settled in Puerto Rico about a decade ago after living for years in New York He retired as a welder from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey He injured his back at his former job and has problems in one knee He suffers from neuropathy and fibromyalgia and he placed an inflatable mattress on his shelter cot to cushion the impact of the rigid bed on his injured body His passion for music has caused problems with some “neighbors” in the shelter who have complained or scolded him for his raucous distraction This situation even led to several police officers intervening a few days ago Ramos Rivera says he feels pressure to leave the shelter as soon as possible he feared that authorities would use that dispute as a reason to expel him “They are so desperate that they are using excuses I have to wait for FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] to inspect the damage prepare the roof to keep the water away and rehabilitate the bottom part so I can live there and they want me to leave now,” he explained almost three months after María hit the island on September 20 there were 909 people living in 40 shelters there were about 15,000 people in 245 shelters Secretary of Housing Fernando Gil Enseñat admitted that he is facing difficulties but argued that the challenges of relocating the displaced as well as their complaints and dissatisfaction Gil Enseñat said that he had to quickly address the closure of shelters located in schools which had not been able to resume classes because they were serving as temporary housing centers The Secretary of Housing had told the Department of Education that all schools that served as shelters would be ready for students by November 27 When asked why his department could not meet its goal Gil Enseñat said there were problems with localization noting that “there is no availability to keep people close to their community.” He mentioned that earlier in the recovery phase he considered relocating people to the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company’s empty factories FEMA said there were no environmental studies to recommend structural improvements for the facility that would meet the demands of a shelter The push to reopen schools and the lack of immediate alternatives to relocate people have caused clashes in some temporary housing centers One of the most recent incidents happened on November 17 at the Francisco García Boyrie School in Guayama’s Costa Azul urbanization where people living in the shelter confronted teachers who had arrived to prepare classrooms in anticipation of the school’s reopening According to some people living in that school shelter which was acting as the facility’s managing agent telling people they had three hours to leave or else the police would be contacted The police’s Tactical Operations Unit had to intervene and people living in the shelter were transferred to community centers in the Fernando Calimano and Luis Palés Matos public housing residences “There are always going to be some parties who will be dissatisfied with the result for X or Y reason We do everything humanly possible so that one also know that we are in a recovery stage and it is up to us that people continue with their lives so that teachers continue teaching students,” the Secretary of Housing said “It’s a very difficult process Many times it is very difficult to find viable alternatives because we don’t have many viable locations for people who are displaced,” he acknowledged Gil Enseñat believed that the arrogant attitude Consulting & Development employees was unacceptable he admitted that he has not discussed the incident with company executives He said that on one occasion he ordered the removal of an employee from a management company —which he did not want to identify— after receiving complaints about how this employee treated people living in shelters He also did not share information requested by the CPI about shelter complaints or indicate if he has taken action with any management company Although the Department of Housing is the agency in charge of shelters it delegates facilities management to a dozen companies who are acting as administrative agents for the duration of the emergency These companies also manage public housing projects and the assignment of shelters were distributed by the regions where the public housing complexes being managed by these companies are located The contract between the Public Housing Administration and each of the companies was signed on September 18 with the possibility of a six-month extension The public corporation agreed to pay a fee of $7 per day for each person being housed in a shelter up to a maximum of $160,000 for the duration of the contract with the company The resources come from federal funds managed by the public housing entity “What they want to do here is to get people out They removed ten people from Costa Azul and placed them in apartments without water and power What they want is to get everyone out of here Even an animal is treated with more decency who stays overnight at the community center of the Fernando Calimano public housing residence in Guayama’s urban center Sánchez lives there with her 30-year-old son She said the management company’s employees have treated them insensitively and with disdain She explained that the experience not only has her in a state of constant anxiety but has also aggravated her heart problems The day the police intervened in the controversy with the teachers Sánchez ended up in the hospital due to accelerated heart palpitations She said that it torments her to live under threat of perpetual eviction One of the first housing options offered by the Department of Housing to people seeking shelter is an apartment in a public housing project but Sánchez noted that alternative is not valid for her because her son is on probation for a domestic violence case and he cannot live in public housing complexes authorities allowed him to take shelter in the community center of the Calimano residences Sánchez insists the communication from FEMA and the Department of Housing has not been clear or sufficient and she has even obtained contradictory information from Guayama’s municipal government about the help should could receive for her situation displaced people in Guayama have said their mental health has deteriorated Several witnessed the anguish in some families who couldn’t be with each other because shelter rules separate men from women many saw how loneliness led to a sense of hopelessness One person even witnessed how the emergency caused one companion to attempt suicide “I’m seeing this [handled] as if we were criminals I am not seeing it as a disaster or as a humanitarian problem I am not seeing it channeled in a way where we are not being seen as being more affected that we really are I’m seeing it as this is a brutal mandate we throw ourselves into the street to live because we do not want more pressure than we already have will they psychologically respond to this pressure We will end up being more affected,” said Luis Ortiz in the Luis Palés Matos public housing residence Numidia Martínez Pérez waits for the moment when she can return to the town of Salinas The 61-year-old woman was relocated with another 12 people at the Guayama facility due to the urgency of reopening the Carlos Colón Burgos School The Salinas school was able to resume operations in late November but the people who lived there for weeks are now waiting for the day when they can return to the town they call home “They did not tell me I was coming here [to Guayama] Here I do not count at all to anyone because I do not have relatives Martínez Pérez does not have a car or cell phone She does have a sister who lives in Santa Isabela and who visited her when she was staying in Salinas When Martínez Pérez was in the previous shelter she fell in the dining room and said that the fall broke her clavicle she does not know the magnitude of the injury since she has not been able to collect the x-ray results from the place it was performed in Salinas Martínez Pérez protested the transfer to Guayama during the government’s efforts to consolidate and reduce existing shelters said he preferred to return and wander the streets of his hometown rather than stay in Guayama “I’m going to the streets if they did not give me room and I do not know anyone here [in Guayama] either More than 75,000 homes in Puerto Rico were completely destroyed due to Hurricane Maria while about 335,000 suffered minor or moderate damage the agency offers the possibility of applying for the federal Section 8 program to subsidize rent for people with limited economic resources Gil Enseñat did not provide statistics for the aid that had been granted so far he said that the Public Housing Administration had about 1,500 units available the Department of Housing announced that it would start the Tu Hogar Renace (Your Home Is Reborn) program with FEMA funds to make minor repairs —such as replacing doors and windows and correcting leaks— so that a residence is functional Officials expect to impact 75,000 housing units and each will have a cap of $20,000 in aid because the agency allegedly has just started the competitive bidding process for contractors Department of Housing spokeswoman Leticia Jover said they hope to have the program “active” by the end of December or early January In addition to the programs managed by the island’s government FEMA manages some initiatives aimed at providing temporary shelter to the people while the work to restore or rebuild impacted structures is completed The “blue roof” program is one of those initiatives 14,779 roof tarps were installed last month around Puerto Rico the transitory housing program is available people displaced by the hurricane can qualify to stay in hotels or motels in Puerto Rico or other parts of the United States the island lacks sufficient available rooms so many of the people who have applied for this help are in other U.S FEMA data said there were 1,758 family units (equivalent to 4,597 people) mainly housed in Puerto Rico also pointed out that the federal agency provides resources to rent vacant homes that allow for temporary relocation and identifies and repairs multi-family properties for people impacted by the hurricane FEMA provides financial assistance to meet housing needs De la Campa said that people who have available properties that can be used for these purposes can contact FEMA at 202-705-9140 It is a challenge that we always have because when we are talking about a place where grandparents lived We try to work with the government of Puerto Rico we try to make people understand that it is the most effective way to be able to live in a safer quieter place that is built to code,” De la Campa said executive director of Amnesty International in Puerto Rico explained that addressing the housing needs of people displaced by a natural disaster is a long-term process must meet the following criteria: include active participation of those affected by the decision-making; avoid the separation of the family and destruction of the community’s “social thread;” and take into account local economies so that relocated people can have the means to make a living but it is not adequate if you cannot work nearby if you can not take your children to school Your home is not adequate if you don’t have electrical power These are other elements that allow your home to be a dignified home,” Gallardo said And it’s that the state needs to be cautious in not turning this construction process into an opportunity for some people to get rich The priority here must be to make this reconstruction take human rights into account,” she added Read the Spanish version of this article here This story was made possible by the Futuro Media Group as part of a collaboration supported by the Ford Foundation and website in this browser for the next time I comment Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More a growing number of areas of Puerto Rico are doing better just a couple of towns over from Hurricane Maria's entry point near where Maria began its destructive path across Puerto Rico power insulators lay on the ground as horses run free nearby A helicopter hoists metal as it helps with line repairs has been turned into a busy Federal Emergency Management Agency center No FEMA representatives wanted to speak on camera “Este es el area norte de Guayama," he says and no power here..." we confirm with him Cintron shows us three of the worst affected areas still without electricity more than six months after the hurricane Cintron says he has begged for cooler conditions inside the people coming here to seek help would be comfortable The mayor's staff and city personnel are also here because city hall suffered roof damage like those in many other parts of the island Cintron said he doesn't know when they'll be fixed   blue tarps cover homes and buildings along the streets of Barrio Borinquen one of Guayama's poorest neighborhoods — and where a shocking viral video was shot "I used to live in this house," she says in Spanish but I rode out the hurricane there at my mom's." The welcoming aroma of arroz con salchicha wafts from her kitchen and fills the air and her beloved statue of the virgen de Guadalupe The one she shot that went viral in the wake of the hurricane muddy water from the River Guamani swiftly rushes by Rodriguez and her family can be heard in the background Much like the battered Puerto Rican flag standing among the rubble