3
/ Wednesday, January 22, 2020
a week in review Puerto Ricans Protest Disaster Recovery Mismanagement Demonstrators gathered Monday and Tueday in front of the governor’s mansion to demand the resignation of Gov. Wanda Vázquez and protest the recent discovery of apparently forgotten disaster supplies amid ongoing earthquakes. The protests came a day after Vázquez fired former emergency management director Carlos Acevedo. Gov. Vázquez ordered an investigation into the incident. >Carlos Rivera Giusti
New York Deploys Experts to Assist Puerto Rico Gov. Andrew Cuomo will deploy eight additional engineers and utility experts from the New York Power Authority to address power outages caused by the recent earthquakes, and stabilize the island’s power system to help mitigate the repeated power outages. The state and the Greater New York Hospital Association have authorized the deployment of bilingual mental health professionals to provide support to people on the island who have been traumatized by the disaster. Cuomo has also authorized the deployment of dozens of inspectors to conduct more extensive damage assessments of buildings and verify basic code compliance of public facilities. >Courtesy NY State
Powered BY El Vocero de Puerto Rico, 1064 Ave Ponce de León 2nd floor San Juan, PR Postal Address: PO Box 15074, San Juan, PR 00902
Government Issues Order to Expedite Emergency Projects Given the urgency to start rebuilding roads affected by the earthquakes that hit the island’s southwest region, as well as building shelters, the Department of Economic Development and Commerce issued a two administrative orders through its Permit Management Office (OGPe) to expedite emergency government projects. The OGPe issued a waiver to the Department of Transportation and Public Works and its dependencies — the Highways and Transportation Authority, the Directorate of Public Works, the Federal Highways Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — from obtaining environmental compliance certification from the Environmental Quality Board, an incidental permission to cut, transfer and plant trees, the Single Incidental Permit, or any other permit or authorization delegated to the OGPe that are required for construction purposes. The waiver applies to cleaning, removing and disposing of debris; landslide correction; pavement rehabilitation; restoration of drainage systems; installation of temporary bridges; rehabilitation and/or restoration of temporary detours, and restoration or installation of security measures, among others. >Carlos Rivera Giusti
President Salvador Hasbún shasbun@elvocero.com
Human Resources Director Arlene Rolón, PHR arolon@elvocero.com
Managing Editor Yennifer Álvarez yalvarez@wjournalpr.com
Comptroller Félix A. Rosa frosa@elvocero.com
Traffic Director Ilia M. Pérez Centeno iperez@elvocero.com
Multi-Platform Digital Director Stephanie Gómez Álvarez sgomez@elvocero.com
Production Director Eligio Dekony edekony@elvocero.com
Editorial Director Juan Miguel Muñiz Guzmán jmuniz@elvocero.com
Multi-Platform Graphic Director Héctor L. Vázquez hvazquez@elvocero.com
Phone: 787-622-2300, 787-721-2300 Customer Service: 787-622-7480