Administrasi Biden Akan Memprioritaskan Pemulihan Puerto Riko senilai $65 Miliar, Bukan Status Politik

Gugus tugas Gedung Putih Puerto Riko yang baru dibentuk kembali akan fokus pada kemajuan pembangunan kembali di wilayah AS setelahnya Badai Maria dan Irma pada tahun 2017, last year’s earthquakes dan Pandemi Covid-19 alih-alih bergabung dengan congressional debate over Puerto Rico’s political status, tanggapan terhadap ketegangan selama puluhan tahun around the fate of the island’s relationship to the mainland.

“We don’t have jurisdiction on status, but we do have jurisdiction on the billions of dollars that have gone to the island. And there’s a real concern that these dollars might not be spent in a way that would make a real difference,” Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, the White House’s associate director for Puerto Rico and the territories, said Wednesday.

Pemerintah federal telah mengalokasikan lebih dari $65 miliar dana pemulihan ke Puerto Riko, namun masyarakat di pulau tersebut hanya menerima hampir $21 miliar, menurut data Kantor Pemulihan, Rekonstruksi dan Ketahanan.

Sebagian besar dana telah dialokasikan ke Badan Manajemen Darurat Federal dan departemen Pendidikan, Perumahan dan Pembangunan Perkotaan.

“This is such a historic opportunity to do it right at all levels and to use these resources,” Sierra-Zorita said. “You don’t want to have a situation where you’re spending money and then, 20 or 30 years down the line, you say: ‘What did we do? What did we spend that money on?’

“We want to spend our energy and focus on doing it right, or at least attempt to do it right, rather than to be bogged down by a debate on the status,” she said.

The White House Working Group on Puerto Rico held its first meeting Tuesday. It was attended by a significant number of officials, including 10 members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet and four deputy agency secretaries, according to the White House.

Berinvestasi dalam ketahanan jangka panjang pulau tersebut dan infrastrukturnya untuk memastikan masyarakat dapat bertahan dari bencana di masa depan adalah prioritas utama gugus tugas tersebut, kata Gedung Putih dalam sebuah pernyataan. pernyataan.

But when they consider Puerto Rico’s ability to withstand future disasters, officials are also thinking about the impacts of the island’s decadeslong fiscal crisis, which was triggered when U.S. laws secara sewenang-wenang mengecualikan Puerto Rico dari kode kebangkrutan federal.

Langkah ini menghalangi pulau tersebut menyelesaikan krisis utang senilai $72 miliar hingga Bab 9 dan mendorong Kongres untuk mengesahkan undang-undang PROMESA pada tahun 2016 untuk membentuk dewan fiskal yang ditunjuk pemerintah federal yang bertanggung jawab untuk merestrukturisasi utang. Langkah ini telah menghasilkan langkah-langkah penghematan yang ketat.

Sierra-Zorita said the task force’s recommended policy priorities include economic development, education and workforce development, and recovery and delivery.

“Under economic development, that’s where you’ll see things like the fiscal issues and job growth,” she said.

In addition, under recovery and delivery, officials will focus on addressing issues limiting Puerto Rico’s capacity to manage its crises.

“If you teach the island how to manage these huge amounts of funds and how to deliver these services, you’re building capacity. That capacity can be transferred to other areas of government,” Sierra-Zorita said. “The notion, to some extent, is to cut the dependency, not because we don’t want to help, but because people don’t want to be dependent. They want to manage their own affairs, and they want to be resourceful on their own.”

Officials say reinstating the task force, which has existed during almost every recent administration expect former President Donald Trump’s, was part of Biden’s campaign promise to Puerto Ricans.

Reactivating the task force “is an expression of that commitment,” Sierra-Zorita said.

Under Trump, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Peter Brown was appointed as the White House’s special representative for Puerto Rico’s disaster recovery, 10 months before Trump’s term ended.

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