Page 6 - aruba-today-20240719

A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 19 July 2024
U.S. announces $325 million in funding to boost Puerto Rico solar

projects as outages persist

By DÁNICA COTO transformer in the area, but
Associated Press the plan failed after crews
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) discovered that an “inter-
— The U.S. government nal problem” rendered
announced Thursday that the equipment unusable,
$325 million in federal funds further enraging customers
will be available for solar and government officials.
and battery storage instal- Luma recently said it would
lations across Puerto Rico relocate another transform-
as the U.S. territory struggles er based in the southeast
with chronic power out- coastal town of Maunabo,
ages. but the announcement
The program, funded by angered the local mayor,
the U.S. Department of En- who blocked access to the
ergy, will target community equipment, saying his town
centers and healthcare fa- depended on it.
cilities, as well as common Luma has said that trans-
areas in subsidized, multi- former is not essential to
family housing. providing electricity to
“Households aren’t the only Maunabo.
place you need power dur- On Sunday, Luma warned
ing and after an emergen- that at least 11 transform-
cy,” said U.S. Energy Sec- ers in electric substations
retary Jennifer Granholm A brigade from the Electric Power Authority repairs distribution lines damaged by Hurricane Maria across Puerto Rico are “vul-
in the Cantera community of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 19, 2017.
during a visit to Puerto Rico. Associated Press nerable,” and if they were
The announcement comes to fail, tens of thousands
amid widespread anger ger the lives of those who tomers in the dark. The outage in Santa Isabel of customers would be left
over outages that repeat- depend on oxygen, refrig- That same month, another and nearby towns prompt- without power.
edly leave Puerto Ricans in erated insulin and dialysis widespread outage left ed Luma, a private compa- Puerto Rico’s power grid
the dark. The island of 3.2 machines. some 350,000 customers ny that operates the trans- remains frail nearly seven
million people has a more Granholm on Thursday vis- without power across Puer- mission and distribution of years after Hurricane Maria
than 40% poverty rate and ited the southern coastal to Rico, prompting Gov. power, to install emergen- pummeled the island as a
some cannot afford a gen- town of Santa Isabel, one Pedro Pierluisi to order an cy generators. powerful Category 4 storm,
erator. of several towns in the area investigation. Luma also launched a leaving some without elec-
Government officials say hit by a power outage in “It is unacceptable,” Gra- $4-million effort to transport tricity for up to a year.q
the outages also endan- June that left 10,000 cus- nholm said of the situation. and install a new mega

Haiti’s prime minister orders gangs to drop weapons and promises

to take back control of the capital

By EVENS SANON and Gangs control 80% of Port- vehicles roll down the main they fanned out across the new prime minister.
DÁNICA COTO au-Prince, and they have boulevard in downtown downtown area. Several Diego Da Rin, with the In-
Associated Press been blamed for killing or Port-au-Prince, one of the shots rang out, but it wasn’t ternational Crisis Group,
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti injuring more than 1,500 capital’s more dangerous clear who fired and if any- noted that gang violence
(AP) — Haitian Prime Min- people in the first three areas, as a crowd of Hai- one was injured or killed. began diminishing in late
ister Garry Conille ordered months of the year alone. tians gathered quietly to “Drop your weapons and May, with the first contin-
gangs to surrender their Earlier Wednesday, Associ- observe, arms on their hips. recognize the authority of gent of Kenyans arriving in
weapons during a televised ated Press journalists ob- The vehicles carried Ke- the state,” Conille said in a late June.
speech late Wednesday in served a line of armored nyan and Haitian police as message to gangs. He noted that so far, Ke-
which he acknowledged In late February, gangs nyans appeared to have
how dangerous life in Hai- launched coordinated at- limited their patrols to
ti’s capital and beyond has tacks targeting key state neighborhoods in Port-au-
become and pledged to infrastructure. They seized Prince that have not been
crack down on the ram- control of more than two seized by gangs.
pant violence. dozen police stations; “There really hasn’t been
Conille spoke a day after opened fire on the main any offensive operations,”
a second group of 200 Ke- international airport, forc- he said.
nyan police officers arrived ing it to close for nearly In upcoming months, the
in Haiti to help quell wide- three months; and stormed Kenyans will be joined by
spread gang violence as Haiti’s two biggest prisons, police and soldiers from the
part of a U.N.-backed mis- releasing more than 4,000 Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bar-
sion led by the East African inmates. bados, Benin, Chad and
country. The violence led to the res- Jamaica for a total of 2,500
“Life every day in Port-au- ignation of former Prime personnel.
Prince has turned into a Minister Ariel Henry in late Conille said restoring secu-
battle for survival,” he said. A Kenyan police officer part of a UN-backed multinational April and the installation of rity is a top priority for him
force gestures for journalists to move in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
“Many innocent people Wednesday, July 17, 2024. a transitional presidential but warned it would take
have lost their lives.” Associated Press council and Conille as the time. q