Page 12 - aruba-today-20170701

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 1 July 2017

Puerto Rico struggles to save historic buildings amid crisis

erned by Spanish explorer has been aggravated by
Juan Ponce de Leon. It is a government cutbacks in
top tourist attraction with its jobs, pensions and general
blue cobblestone streets, spending.
colorful homes and expan- As a result, authorities have
sive ocean views. closed several buildings
But dozens of historic build- and museums because
ings there are decaying. they have decayed to the
The exact number is un- point where they pose a
known because the gov- danger to the public, Ri-
ernment hasn’t carried vera said.
out structural evaluations Among them is the bell
of them in more than five tower of the Cathedral of
years, said Carmen Marla San Juan Bautista in Old
Lopez, director of the his- San Juan. Worshippers and
torical heritage program at tourists can visit the rest of
the Institute of Puerto Rican the 16th century church,
Culture. best known for housing the
“Given our fiscal situation, remains of Ponce de Leon.
a lot of people and even Other attractions also have
the government itself do been damaged: Church
not have enough money officials were forced to
to intervene in all the prop- remove several broken
Architect Andy Rivera looks up at an abandoned building in the historic part of Puerto Rico’s erties it would like to,” she stained glass windows and
capital, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The U.S. territory’s prized historic buildings are falling apart as
a debt crisis and enduring economic recession have slashed public and private funding for said. a huge, antique organ be-
maintenance, repairs and restoration. Many of the buildings are cause it was filled with ter-
(AP Photo/Danica Coto) owned by the government mites. The church’s walls
By DANICA COTO ing economic recession Rivera, an architect who of the U.S. territory, whose are crumbling in many
Associated Press have slashed public and founded the Puerto Rico maintenance budgets places and mold is clearly
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) private funding for mainte- Historic Building Drawing have been cut along with visible. A large sign at the
— Stained glass windows nance, repairs and restora- Society. most other spending at a cathedral’s entrance asks
from the 16th century are tion. “It’s a shame these things moment when officials are visitors to leave a donation
broken. Porch railings from Tourists are increasingly are deteriorating, and no- trying to restructure a por- to help finance the recon-
the 1700s are missing. Brick banned from visiting once- body is calling attention to tion of its $73 billion public struction project, although
walls crumble inside the hall popular sites now in dan- it,” he said. debt. the extent of the damage
where Spain ceded Puerto gerous disrepair. The majority of these build- Private and other non-gov- and cost of the project is
Rico to the U.S. Overall, nearly 40 key build- ings are in the historic part ernmental maintenance unclear. The Rev. Benjamin
Puerto Rico’s prized historic ings in the metropolitan of Puerto Rico’s capital budgets also have been Perez, who helps oversee
buildings are falling apart area are in danger of be- known as Old San Juan, squeezed by a severe, the project, did not return
as a debt crisis and endur- ing lost, according to Andy founded in 1521 and gov- long-lasting recession that messages for comment.q

Board: Court could decide Puerto Rico power company debt

By DANICA COTO The board’s decision to to moving forward,” said would mark its first default. with $170 million in liquid-
Associated Press scrap the deal that took board member David “We are hopeful we will ity and relend its portion of
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) nearly three years to com- Skeel of the opportunity make progress,” said Nata- the July 1 payment as part
— A federal control board plete has been criticized to restructure the debt in lie Jaresko, the board’s ex- of the deal was still on the
overseeing Puerto Rico’s fi- by some in U.S. court. “The Puerto Rico ecutive director. table.
nances announced Friday Congress as well, but the Electric Power Authority is The company has long But it warned it would take
that it will allow the U.S. ter- board said the step was absolutely essential to the been accused of corrup- action if the government
ritory to ask a court to re- needed to protect an is- financial recovery of the tion and has struggled to goes to court for a bank-
structure roughly $9 billion land mired in a decade- island.” update aging infrastruc- ruptcy-like process known
in debt held by the island’s long recession. It warned The board said its decision ture, with Puerto Rico as Title III.
power company if need- the deal would have led does not prevent negotia- suffering an island-wide “We do not plan to legally
ed, angering bondholders to higher power bills and tions with bondholders from blackout last year that last- enforce our rights unless
who had reached a ten- made it more expensive continuing as the power ed a couple of days. and until a Title III process,
tative deal with the com- to live and do business in company is expected to A bondholders’ group said which would simply leave
pany as they brace for a Puerto Rico. default on more than $400 Friday that its offer to pro- us no choice,” the group
multimillion-dollar default. “This is one of the key steps million due July 1, which vide the power company said.q