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WORLD NEWS Friday 9 OctOber 2020

Navigating by mango trees, pink houses in rural Puerto Rico

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (AP) Pedro Capó.
— Firefighters in this city Díaz said the practice of
near Puerto Rico's capital using landmarks to give di-
cheered when they re- rections is not sustainable:
cently got updated maps "They've already changed
that include rural neigh- the color of that pink house
borhoods, confessing they or cut down that tree."
sometimes had to rely on It's those types of directions
taxi drivers for directions that Caguas resident Luz
during emergencies. That's Martínez used to rely on be-
because more than 300,000 fore her neighborhood got
homes on the island have street names and house
no formal address. numbers. She even told
The absence of street visitors to ask for her well-
names and numbers across known neighbor "Nazario" if
the island has long been a they got lost en route to her
problem for the U.S. territo- house.
ry, where internet map ser- "It was very complicated,"
vices sometimes fail. Direc- she said.
tions can involve a mango As president of La Unión
tree, or a bakery or a house community, Martínez held
of a certain color. It's even a vote on potential street
a problem in urban areas, names. Among the win-
like one district of the capi- Postal worker Jose Montoya does his rounds in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. ners: José Díaz Dede, who
tal, San Juan, where some Associated Press ran an informal grocery de-
people rely on a life-size livery service, and Antonia
Bigfoot doll on a balcony resolve the problem. With- Ríos said. one to go out to a main Díaz, who campaigned to
as a reference point for di- out an address, emergen- Four years ago, a young road to flag down emer- pave their streets.
rections to a hospital. cy responders cannot find boy died in San Juan be- gency responders. José Díaz Dede learned his
It's not unusual to hear people quickly or deliver cause it took an ambu- As in other cities, officials name won while in a nurs-
something like: "Turn right basic supplies or medical lance 15 minutes to find here in Caguas want to ing home, but he died be-
at kilometer 58 and make a care when up to 60% of the apartment in a com- avoid such tragedies. fore he could see the sign
left after a large hole. If you homes in some municipali- plex that did not have a Over the past decade, go up. Antonia Díaz, who
go past the big breadfruit ties lack one. standardized address, said more than 100 roads have is 106, still lives on the street
tree, you've gone too far." "If you're not on a map, you Nazario Lugo, the president been named for the first named for her.
Oso Blanco prison, nick- don't exist," said Raúl Ríos, of Puerto Rico's Association time, but there are many Not everyone, though,
named the Alcatraz of the a former manager at the of Emergency Responders more that need identities wants to be on a map. Ríos
Caribbean where hundreds U.S. Postal Service who now who was the city's emer- and it's not always easy, said some people resist be-
of inmates were killed, is still leads iCasaPR, a nonprofit gency management di- said Carmen Díaz, aux- cause they have added
used as a reference point group that aims to stan- rector at the time. And iliary planning director. a swimming pool or other
even though crews demol- dardize addresses on the the mother could not go Street names have to be feature to their home with-
ished it long ago. island. outside to flag down emer- unique and they are lim- out permits. Others simply
So getting lost has long Puerto Rico's 78 municipali- gency responders because ited to 28 characters, so to want to live off the grid.
been an acceptable and ties and dozens of govern- she was following CPR di- help neighborhoods come And many people have
occasional fun part of is- ment agencies still use rections from the 911 op- up with ideas Díaz bought their official addresses listed
land life for some, but the separate databases that erator, he said. books on Puerto Rican as post office boxes — with
coronavirus pandemic, use different names for the The problem is so wide- plants and animals, novels clusters of rusting boxes
a recent series of earth- same streets or list the same spread the government by famous local authors dotting rural routes around
quakes and increasingly addresses in varying ways, even recommends that a and even suggested the the island — and don't
active hurricane seasons such as 1013 or 10-13. "It's home emergency plan in- name of the song "Calma" want to have to switch to a
are prodding authorities to like the Tower of Babel," clude designating some- by Puerto Rican pop singer new address.q

Mexican congress votes to eliminate social, culture trusts

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The vote, and so may be able ty say that funding for those
lower house of Mexico's to roll over any objections. projects is assured, but that
congress voted Tuesday to The issue has sparked more the trust funds were waste-
eliminate as many 109 gov- heated debate than any ful and uncontrolled.
ernment trust funds that fi- of López Obrador's initia- Opposition parties and
nance everything from sci- tives since he took office civic groups say the funds'
ence to movie productions almost two years ago. independence is precisely
to disaster relief. Together, the funds man- their value. They charge
Debate continued on op- age almost $3.2 billion in that with the changes vot-
position proposals that government funds for re- ed through Tuesday, all the
some of the trusts could be search, health, sports and projects would have to rely Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador addresses
preserved. But President education projects, includ- on annual budget votes, an family members of 43 missing students from the Rural Normal
Andrés Manuel López Ob- ing one that finances pro- arrangement that would School of Ayotzinapa, during a presentation of the ongoing in-
rador and his Morena party tection for threatened jour- make them more depen- vestigations on the sixth anniversary of the students’ enforced
managed to push the initial nalists. dent on the president or disappearance, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Satur-
bill through on a 242 to 178 López Obrador and his par- political whims. q day, Sept. 26, 2020.
Associated Press