The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, dismissed Carlos Acevedo as commissioner of the Emergency Management and Disaster Management Bureau (NMEAD) on Saturday after discovering a warehouse full of supplies in the city of Ponce that apparently did not go to the affected from the hurricane in 2017.
Upon the departure of Acevedo, the governor will submit to the Senate of Puerto Rico José Reyes, general assistant of the National Guard of the island, for the position, Vázquez said in a press release.
The discovery was published on the afternoon of this Saturday by a citizen known as The Controlling Lion, when posting a video on social networks with images of the warehouse in the area of La Guancha, in Ponce, full of supplies allegedly stored since the passage of the hurricane Maria in September 2017.
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Hundreds of water boxes, diapers, awnings, propane gas, gas stoves, batteries (batteries), baby formula and awnings with the emblem of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were found in the warehouse, according to photos downloaded in the social networks and confirmed by Acevedo in a press release.
"There are thousands of people who have made sacrifices to bring help to the south and it is unforgivable that resources have been kept in a warehouse," Vázquez said in reference to the help that thousands of citizens have taken to those affected by the tremors in the southern area. since the great earthquake of 6.4 magnitude on January 7.
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Vázquez, in turn, ordered the Secretary of State, Elmer Román, to carry out an investigation in the next 48 hours about allegations of mishandling of supplies in the warehouse. This investigation must include an inventory of this warehouse and any other that exists, stressed the president.
After the discovery of the warehouse, hundreds of people came to the place to appropriate the supplies. Earlier this Saturday, numerous water pallets and other boxes with emergency supplies were found in a warehouse in the city devastated by the Ponce earthquake.
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Several residents were seen opening the metal doors of the building and asking the authorities to distribute the supplies. Families began to line up outside the warehouse on Saturday afternoon, hoping to get bottled water, food and emergency radios, said WAPA, a CNN affiliate.
Acevedo has denied the allegations of mismanagement, saying the agency has been actively distributing supplies, according to a statement issued through the emergency management office. Residents have not been denied any supplies in the warehouse, including food, diapers, baby formula and cribs, Acevedo said.
He said about 600 pallets of water were distributed when Hurricane Dorian and Hurricane Karen threatened Puerto Rico and during a drought that affected the island last year. Nearly 80 of those pallets remain in the warehouse because they expired, he said. "There have been no orders to confiscate or destroy those items at any time," Acevedo said in a statement.
There are thousands of people who made sacrifices to bring help to the south and it is unforgivable that the resources have been stored in a warehouse, "the governor said in a statement.
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Puerto Rico has been devastated by a series of earthquakes since December 28. In the last two weeks, tremors and aftershocks have destroyed or severely damaged hundreds of structures and forced thousands of people in the southern area of the island to flee their homes.
More than 8,000 people have been living in outdoor shelters in the cities of Yauco, Peñuelas, Guánica, Guayanilla and Ponce. Some of the displaced are residents who are too afraid to return home for fear that a wall or ceiling will collapse.
200 million in damages
The executive director of the Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3) of Puerto Rico, Ottmar Chavez, estimated last Friday at 200 million dollars the damages caused by the earthquakes that shake the Caribbean island from on December 28th.
Chavez clarified that it is only a preliminary figure and that we will have to wait to have definitive data, since the evaluation is still underway.
The official further stressed that damaged homes in the southwestern area of Puerto Rico rise to 800, although more detailed information will also have to be expected once government and federal agencies carry out studies to determine the actual extent in the houses affected by the eartquakes.
Chavez released these data during a press conference with the governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, in which it was advanced that people who do not have property titles of their homes -because they are structures built without permits - can also benefit from aid for the victims.
It was also announced that the Education, Arts and Culture, and Public Security commissions of the House of Representatives began to analyze the processes carried out by the Department of Education (DE) to inspect and certify schools for the tremors that shake the island.
The Government, in fear of the parents, has insisted that the schools of Puerto Rico will not open their doors until all the centers are inspected by structural engineers who approve the return to the classes.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed the day before a major disaster declaration for Puerto Rico due to the earthquakes that have shaken the island since the last week of last year.
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