Puerto Rico’s recovery requires a sustained federal commitment

[longknife]

Of course it will. After decades of faux-DemocRAT control, the territory is a total mess rampant with crooked public officials and a populace either too lazy or simply unable to help themselves.

So, why is it OUR responsibility to try to clean up the mess?

Because of this --- In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States acquired Puerto Rico under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. In other words, the US accepted responsibility for the islands and its people. And, we’ve been responsible for its people for 100 years when they were granted citizenship.

Academically, most of Puerto Rico's economic woes stem from federal regulations that expired, have been repealed, or no longer apply to Puerto Rico; its inability to become self-sufficient and self-sustainable throughout history;[p] its highly politicized public policy which tends to change whenever a political party gains power;[q] as well as its highly inefficient local government[r]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico#cite_note-238 which has accrued a public debt equal to 68% of its gross domestic product throughout time.[t]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico#cite_note-242

(From Wikipedia)

A very extensive article @ Puerto Rico - Wikipedia

The islands are a mess and we have 2 choices – let them go under and really become totally dependent upon the federal government or work like hell to get them up and running as somewhat independent.

Original article @ Puerto Rico’s recovery requires a sustained federal commitment

 

[waltky]

PR havin' to pull itself up by it's bootstraps...

What Puerto Rico Is Doing to Get Power Back After Storm
20 Oct.`17 - Electrical linemen descend from helicopters, balancing on steel girders 90 feet high on transmission towers in the mountains of central Puerto Rico, far from any road. At the same time, crews fan out across the battered island, erecting light poles and power lines in a block by block slog.

A month after Hurricane Maria rolled across the center of Puerto Rico, the power is still out for the vast majority of people on the island as the work to restore hundreds of miles of transmission lines and thousands of miles of distribution lines grinds on for crews toiling under a blazing tropical sun. And it won't get done soon without more workers, more equipment and more money, according to everyone involved in the effort. 'It's too much for us alone,' Nelson Velez, a regional director for the Puerto Rican power authority, said as he supervised crews working along a busy street in Isla Verde, just east of San Juan, on a recent afternoon. 'We have just so many, so many areas affected.'

The office of Gov. Ricardo Rossello said Thursday that about 20 percent of the island has service and he has pledged to get that to 95 percent by December 31. For now, though, most of the island's 3.4 million people suffer without air conditioning or basic necessities. Many have resorted to using washboards, now frequently seen for sale along the side of the road, to clean clothes, and sleeping on their balconies and flocking to any open restaurants for relief from daytime temperatures above 90 degrees. 'I thought we would we have power in the metro area by now,' said Pablo Martinez, an air conditioning technician, shaking his head in frustration.

Hurricane Maria, which caused at least 49 deaths on the island, made landfall on the southeastern coast near Yabucoa as a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of about 154 mph (248 kph). It passed out of the territory about 12 hours later near Barceloneta in the north, still with sustained winds of about 115 mph (185 kph). The onslaught was sufficient to knock down hundreds of transmission towers and thousands of distribution poles and lines.

The storm's path was ideal for taking down the entire grid. Most of Puerto Rico's generating capacity is along the southern coast and most consumption is in the north around San Juan, with steel and aluminum transmission towers up to 90 feet (27 meters) tall running through the mountains in the middle. At least 10 towers fell along the most important transmission line that runs to the capital, entangling it with a secondary one that runs parallel and that lost about two dozen towers in a hard-to-reach area in the center of the island. 'It reminds me of a fireball that just burned everything in its path,' said Brig. Gen. Diana Holland, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers unit working to clear debris and restore the grid, with nearly 400 troops on the ground.

MORE

See also:

Puerto Rico Governor to Plead With Trump for 'Equal Treatment' After Hurricane
Friday 20th October, 2017 | WASHINGTON - Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello says he intends to tell U.S. President Donald Trump at a White House meeting Thursday that people in the U.S. territory want 'equal treatment' in recovering from the devastation left a month ago by Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island 1,600 kilometers southeast of the U.S. mainland, is still reeling from the storm's ravages, with less than 20 percent of the 3.4 million of the American citizens who live there with electricity and 35 percent still without drinking water. Ahead of meeting with Trump, Rossello said he will tell the president 'what our pressing needs are,' chiefly help with restoring hospitals, provision of more medical supplies, food and water and reconstruction of its infrastructure.

The national government's effort in assisting residents in several southern states on the mainland recover from other hurricanes has generally won favorable reviews, but its Puerto Rico performance has been more problematical. 'We're in this together,' Rossello said. 'We need equal treatment.' He said cash-strapped Puerto Rico needs the resources to rebuild its already-shaky infrastructure, which was largely decimated by the September 20 storm. 'If we don't focus on the long term, we'll have bigger problems,' Rossello said. The contents of a damaged home can be seen as recovery efforts continue following Hurricane Maria near the town of Comerio, Puerto Rico, October 7, 2017.

Criticism of response

Rossello has been largely supportive of the U.S. government's recovery effort, but Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto of San Juan, the territory's capital and its biggest city, has frequently criticized Trump's response to the disaster. Rossello and others have justified the relatively slow response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of the logistics in reaching remote parts of the island. But Cruz Soto said, 'That is the most ridiculous, offensive explanation. The most powerful nation in the world cannot get supplies to [an island that is] 100 miles by 35 miles wide? They don't want to get supplies there. It's unthinkable that they cannot, so it must mean that they do not want to.'

Congress is considering $4.9 billion in emergency relief to Puerto Rico, which even before the storm faced $124 billion in long-term debt obligations and had filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors. Rossello is also asking for at least another $4.6 billion in assistance for the recovery. Trump has voiced mixed sentiments about helping the island recover, saying the national government would assist it as long as needed, yet also saying that federal relief workers would not be there 'forever.' He visited the island earlier this month to assess the recovery efforts, at one point tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd of islanders.

Puerto Rico Governor to Plead With Trump for Equal Treatment After Hurricane