The Senate of Puerto Rico approved today to investigate the contract awarded to the company HMS Ferries, which in turn belongs to the company Hornblower, for the operation of the boats that offer maritime transportation service to and from the islands municipality of Vieques and Culebra, and also between San Juan and Cataño.
“This is an investigation requested by people living in the municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, who for decades have been affected by a poor public transport service. This is a contract that today has to be questioned, when they allegedly won a proposal and are still not operating in February.The people of Puerto Rico have, as with the LUMA contract, to revise that contract.It seems to us that from what was proposed to what the difference was abysmal, “said the author of the measure and senator of the Carolina district, Javier Aponte Dalmau.
Also, Senator Maritza Jiménez of Carolina District for the New Progressive Party (PNP) expressed that “the boats and this sea are the road of the Viequenses and Culebrenses and this contract definitely needs to be investigated.”
Of equal importance, the Senate of Puerto Rico, in its commitment to country education, passed Senate resolutions. 2 and 5, both by the Vice President of the Senate, Marially González Hortes.
RS2 orders the Senate Compliance and Restructuring Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the outcome of inspections conducted in public schools after the 2020 tremors. “In the event of an earthquake we have 10 seconds or less. to react appropriately, so we must guarantee our children the right to study in a structurally safe school in the event of a greater seismic movement during the school year “, emphasized the also president of the Compliance Commission and Restructuring of the Senate, Marially González Hortes.
Meanwhile, the RS5 orders the Senate Committee on Education, Tourism and Culture to conduct a thorough investigation into the process of distributing electronic devices to students and teachers of the public education system and the current state of delivery of computers and tablets. It also seeks to know about the process of granting and claiming subsidy granted to students and teachers of the Department of Education (DE) for the payment of high-speed internet service and the current status of claims received at Department of Education (DE) on these matters. “With the results of this research we are ensuring that distance education reaches the homes of students in the public education system,” said Marially González Hortes, the senator for the Ponce district.
We recommend:
In addition, Senate Resolution 27 was passed ordering the Puerto Rico Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to conduct a thorough investigation into the delay in the removal of discarded rubber at the plant. of tire recycling, located in the municipality of Guánica. It seeks to know the plans and strategies of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) for the removal of tires and cleaning of the plant, as well as the relevant measures to alleviate environmental and sanitation problems until the demolition of the structure.
On the other hand, the Senate endorsed Senate Resolution 23, for the Committee on Women’s Affairs to conduct an investigation into whether there is price discrimination in Puerto Rico on items and services based on gender to whom they are addressed. As can be seen from the explanatory memorandum to the Island, there is no clear picture as to whether there is price discrimination in products and services based on the genre for which they are aimed.
Another of the measures approved was the Resolution of the Senate 3 which tries to order to the Commission of Compliance and Restructuring to realize an investigation that allows to document the infrastructural conditions of the State Highways and their Branches of the municipalities of Adjuntas, Guánica, Guayanilla, Jayuya, Juana Diaz, Lajas , Lares, Maricao, Peñuelas, Ponce, Sabana Gran, Utuado and Yauco.
On the other hand, it was notified during the Session that the Governor, Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia Urrutia, submitted to the Senate, for his advice and consent, the appointments of the lawyer Fernando Figueroa Santiago as Attorney General; of Mrs. Ana l. Escobar Pabón as Secretary of Correction and Rehabilitation; of the graduate William O. Rodríguez Rodríguez as Secretary of Housing; of Mrs. Carmen Ana González Magaz as Family Secretary; Mr. Manuel Cidre Miranda as Secretary of the Department of Economic Development; Mr. Ray Jones Quiñones as Secretary of the Department of Recreation and Sports; and graduate Edan G. Rivera Rodríguez as Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs.