Bidnova administracija bo dala prednost 65 milijard dolarjev vrednemu okrevanju Portorika, ne političnemu statusu

Na novo oživljena projektna skupina Bele hiše v Portoriku se bo osredotočila na pospeševanje obnove na ozemlju ZDA po Orkani Maria in Irma leta 2017, last year’s earthquakes in Pandemija Covid-19 namesto da bi se pridružil congressional debate over Puerto Rico’s political status, odgovor na desetletja napetosti 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.

Zvezna vlada je Portoriku namenila več kot 65 milijard dolarjev sredstev za obnovo, vendar so skupnosti na otoku prejele le blizu 21 milijard dolarjev, poroča Urad za okrevanje, obnovo in odpornost.

Večina sredstev je bila dodeljena Zvezni agenciji za upravljanje v izrednih razmerah ter oddelkom za izobraževanje in stanovanja ter urbanistični razvoj.

“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.

Vlaganje v dolgoročno odpornost otoka in njegove infrastrukture, da se skupnostim zagotovi, da se bodo lahko uprle prihodnjim nesrečam, je glavna prednostna naloga delovne skupine, so sporočili iz Bele hiše. izjavo.

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 samovoljno izključil Portoriko iz zveznega stečajnega zakonika.

Ta poteza je preprečila, da bi otok rešil 72 milijard dolarjev težko dolžniško krizo prek 9. poglavja in spodbudila kongres, da je leta 2016 sprejel zakon PROMESA za ustanovitev zvezno imenovanega fiskalnega odbora, odgovornega za prestrukturiranje dolga. Ta poteza je povzročila stroge varčevalne ukrepe.

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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