Wednesday, December 22-28, 2021 - // no. 139
Puerto Rico and the Caribbean
www.theweeklyjournal.com
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Four years after Hurricane María Puerto Rico’s recovery has but begun
Despite the multi-billion dollar budget already obligated for reconstruction, only $251.7 million have been disbursed so far
H
Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal
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jhernandez@wjournalpr.com
urricane María left a path of destruction as it passed over Puerto Rico the night of September 20th, 2017. The island lost most of its essential services’ infrastructure, entire communities were leveled, thousands died and there were many
more refugees. Four years after the biggest disaster in Puerto Rico’s modern history, the reconstruction of the island’s infrastructure has still to get underway.
“After four years, every piece of the puzzle has felled into place,” said Manuel Laboy, Executive director of the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3). “Much has been done so far, and I understand there is much still to be done, but emergency projects needed to be done before the reconstruction could begin,” added Laboy, who admitted there are still more than 2,800 infrastructure projects without any obligated budget from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). GO TO PAGE 4