The government of President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that it will provide a $ 3.7 billion grant to Puerto Rico to help rebuild drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and reservoirs that were damaged by the passage of Hurricane Maria more than three years ago.
The government has been slow to release $ 44 billion in funds that were approved for Puerto Rico after the devastating hurricane.
But the White House assured that once the treatment plant funding fund is allocated, the federal government will have earmarked more than $ 40 billion for the island’s recovery.
Trump has spent much of his term charging Puerto Rican officials, whom he described as corrupt and inept, and has opposed investing in federal funds to rebuild the power grid and other infrastructure that was devastated after the meteor passage in September 2017.
But last September, he put aside his quarrels over the island and its officials, and his government approved a $ 13 billion injection that was mostly channeled into rebuilding the power grid. which was destroyed by the storm and caused the largest blackout in U.S. history.
The announcement came as Trump tried to gain the preference of Puerto Rican voters, especially in the disputed state of Florida.
The item announced on Tuesday covers 90% of the estimated costs for treatment plant reconditioning projects.
Even now, three years after the hurricane, thousands of homes continue to suffer significant damage in Puerto Rico. The island has also been hit by a series of earthquakes and continues to be plunged into a deep economic crisis, which has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.