Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 18 deceMber 2017

Report slams local, U.S. hurricane response in Puerto Rico

By DANICA COTO access to tarps and a de-
Associated Press layed response to requests
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico for financial assistance, the
(AP) — Housing is urgently report said.
needed for tens of thou- “Compared to interna-
sands of Puerto Ricans who tional disaster settings, I
lack power and a regular couldn’t believe how slow
source of safe water nearly the response was two
three months after Hurri- months later,” said Alice
cane Maria damaged their Thomas, climate displace-
homes, Refugees Interna- ment program manager
tional says in a report. for Refugees International
The nonprofit group visited who visited Puerto Rico.
the U.S. territory in recent She called for an improved
weeks to survey needs and strategy for delivering aid.
review the response by lo- “It has to happen now.
cal and federal officials in There is still an emergency
the aftermath of the Cat- going on,” she said.
egory 4 storm, marking the The report noted that it
first time it has organized a took five days before any
mission to a U.S. jurisdiction. senior U.S. officials visited
In a report shared with The Puerto Rico after the storm,
Associated Press, the group In this Oct. 14, 2017 file photo, what was once the home Arden Dragoni and his family lies in ruins and the nonprofit called
said its team was shocked after the passing of Hurricane Maria in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. for better coordination be-
by poor coordination and Associated Press tween local and federal
logistics across the island a former U.S. assistant sec- eral Emergency Manage- mph. Power generation is agencies and a more ag-
that have caused delays in retary of state for popula- ment Agency did not re- currently at 69 percent of gressive plan to find ade-
aid. It noted the island is still tion, refugees and migra- turn a request for comment normal, and 5 percent of quate housing for those dis-
in emergency mode and tion, said in a phone inter- Sunday. utility customers still don’t placed by the hurricane. It
requires more help. view. “These people are Puerto Rico is still struggling have water service. Nearly said many people were un-
“There was a failure of lead- our fellow Americans. The to recover from the Sept. 20 600 people remain in shel- able to file claims in the first
ership and a failure to ap- response of the federal au- storm that killed dozens of ters, and more than 130,000 few weeks because they
preciate the magnitude of thorities should have been people and caused up to have left for the U.S. main- couldn’t access the inter-
the situation and the need and should be much stron- an estimated $95 billion in land. net and then had problems
for extraordinary action by ger than it was and much damage during a 12-hour Those who remain behind awaiting home inspections
U.S. officials,” Eric Schwartz, stronger than it is.” rampage across the island face a lack of supplies and because phone service
the group’s president and Officials with the U.S. Fed- with winds of up to 154 problems including limited was so spotty.q

Poor Venezuelans launch local currency amid cash crunch

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) welcome the idea pro- cash in Venezuela.
— Hard cash is tough to find posed by pro-government Buying common items such
in Venezuela as the coun- groups. “There is no cash as toilet paper, or paying a
try struggles with financial on the street,” said Liset taxi driver, requires stacks of
hardship. So residents in the Sanchez, a 36-year-old the official currency, called
capital on Friday unveiled housewife who plans to use the bolivar.
their own currency. her freshly printed panals to President Nicolas Maduro
The panal, which means buy rice for her family. “This recently announced that
honeycomb in Spanish, currency is going to be a Venezuela is launching a
can be spent in just a few great help for us.” national digital currency
stores. But residents of one Amid triple-digit inflation called the petro, similar to An employee counts “Panales” featuring an image of the
late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in the 23 de Enero
neighborhood desperate and a currency meltdown, bitcoin. But he has offered neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017.
for spending cash said they there has been a run on few details.q Associated Press