Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 8 February 2018
Puerto Ricans grab machetes, shovels to help restore power

By DANICA COTO 20 Category 4 storm. More group then used a neigh- No deaths or serious injuries spokesman Geraldo Qui-
COAMO, Puerto Rico (AP) than 400,000 power cus- bor's tow truck to guide the have been reported, but nones declined to com-
— It took only minutes for tomers across Puerto Rico 35-foot pole into the hole. Sue Kelly, president and ment on the community
Hurricane Maria to kill pow- remain in the dark. "We did it!" one man shout- CEO of the American Pub- efforts, saying only that mu-
er to the Puerto Rican town nicipalities can help out by
of Coamo, cracking wood- clearing roads and debris,
en poles, snapping power identifying places without
lines and hurling transform- power and delivering ma-
ers to the ground. terials in hard-to-reach ar-
For months, residents eas. But as the number of
begged Puerto Rico's pow- mayors complaining about
er company and the U.S. slow power restoration has
Army Corps of Engineers to grown, the administration
bring back their electricity, of Gov. Ricardo Rossello
with few results. allowed municipalities to
So the people of this town sign an agreement with the
of 40,000 high in the moun- power company to take
tains of southern Puerto over repairs if interested
Rico have started restor- and relieve the agency
ing power on their own, of any responsibility. Only
pulling power lines from about a dozen communi-
undergrowth and digging ties have done that so far.
holes for wooden posts in a In Coamo, the vice mayor,
do-it-yourself effort to solve relies on residents to tell him
a small part of the United where damaged cables
States' longest-running and posts are located, and
power outage. uses hand-drawn maps
"If we don't do this, we'll be Public Works Sub-Director Ramon Mendez, wearing hard hat, directs locals who are municipal to show homes that have
without power until sum- workers, Eliezer Nazario, holding rope, Tomas Martinez, right, and Angel Diaz, left, as they install a power or need it. “I’m tired
mer," said Vice Mayor Ed- power pole in an effort to return electricity to Felipe Rodriguez's home, four months after Hurricane of this,” he said. “I wake up
gardo Vazquez, who is us- Maria in Coamo, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) every single morning and
ing hand-drawn maps to it’s the same thing over and
organize a brigade that In Coamo, frustrated by ed, shaking his fist. lic Power Association, said over.”
includes teachers, handy- months of heat and dark- By law, only the Puerto Rico having so many people That hasn’t stopped him
men, a postal worker and ness, 60-year-old home- Electric Power Authority, working to restore power is from helping others get
an accountant, backed by maker Carmita Rivera or PREPA, has authority to understandable but worry- power. He recently used
municipal workers with pro- called a meeting at her work on the island's power ing. his beat-up 1986 pickup
fessional equipment, tools home in mid-January to try grid. Coamo's vice mayor "The biggest issue is safety," truck to move a 300-pound
and experience in light to find local solutions to the says a regional PREPA di- she said. "We are making wooden post up a steep hill
electrical work. problem. rector authorized his pub- good progress. ... But unco- and then balanced himself
Puerto Rico's power com- "Desperation set in," Rivera lic works department and ordinated efforts can result on the corner of a roof to
pany and the Corps of En- said. "We all felt like: 'What volunteers to work on the in death." In the western help guide it into a previ-
gineers have thousands about us? We're human town's lower-voltage dis- mountain town of San Se- ously dug hole on a hill. As
of workers and managers beings. Enough is enough.'" tribution system, providing bastian, a group of munici- he and others struggled
from mainland public utili- Fifty people showed up them materials or re-using pal workers, retired compa- with the pole, they yelled
ties and private companies and swiftly went to work. cables that weren't dam- ny workers and volunteers instructions at one another:
working across the island to In late January, a group of aged in the storm. A power have restored power to “Don’t hit the window! Turn
restore power. The federal- neighbors laid a 300-pound company official comes nearly 2,000 homes despite it around! Wrap the rope
ly funded multibillion-dollar wooden electric post atop by afterward to ensure the objections from the Puerto around it twice, not once!”
effort has been slowed by two logs and tipped it into work is properly done. The Rico Electric Power Author- It’s disheartening for neigh-
rough terrain, slow arrival a freshly dug five-foot hole. higher-voltage lines that ity, whose officials have bor Oscar Rodriguez, who
of supplies and delays in They hooted as one man hit bring power to the town filed complaints with police asked that power compa-
asking for help from pow- his pickup truck's accelera- itself remain off limits to all and the U.S. Occupational ny officials finish the job he
er companies on the U.S. tor and dragged the pole but PREPA workers and au- Safety and Health Admin- and his neighbors started.
mainland after the Sept. alongside the hole. The thorized contractors. istration. Power company q
Puerto Rico's first lady apologizes for sending candles

By DANICA COTO of unity and hope. nied by a message saying, hit by Hurricane Maria, and with open arms," he said.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico "I'm very sorry that the gift "May this piece represent only about 12 percent of "We demand that they pay
(AP) — The wife of Puerto was misinterpreted," she the transformation and re- people there have power. attention to the most dev-
Rico's governor apologized said. silience of the people of "I don't understand the astated town."
on Wednesday for send- The candles were ac- Puerto Rico." point of such a gift," he It's unclear how many peo-
ing candles to people on companied by a wooden Yabucoa Mayor Rafael said, adding that its arrival ple received the candles.
an island where more than Christmas ornament made Surillo told The Associated was incredibly untimely. Beatriz Rossello said they
400,000 power custom- by inmates who created Press that he received one Surillo, who is from the main were sent out in December
ers remain in the dark five them from pieces of a cen- of the candles last week opposition party, said that and January but did not
months after Hurricane Ma- tury-old tree that the Cate- and felt it was in poor taste. neither Rossello nor her provide further details.
ria. gory 4 storm toppled at the The southern coastal town husband, Gov. Ricardo A Rossello spokeswoman
Beatriz Rossello said she just governor's mansion on Sept of 38,000 people that he Rossello, have visited Ya- did not respond to a mes-
wanted to send a message 20. The gift was accompa- represents was the first one bucoa. "We'll receive them sage for comment.q