The head of Puerto Rico’s power company announced Sunday that he’ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚs cancelling a♋ $300 million contract with the Montana-based Whitefish Energy firm.
Power company director Ricardo Ramos said he acceded to a demand by the territory’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, who made the𝓰 callﷺ for action in a rare Sunday morning press conference.
Ramos says 🍒the cancellation will delay work by 10 to🐎 12 weeks.
The contract for the small compa♒ny has come under fire as it is located in the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and at the time Hurricane Maria hit only had two employees.
The circumstances surrounding🔜 how Whitefish obtained the contract from Puerto Rico’s power company is now the subject of federal audits.
About 70 per𒁃cent of the island remains without power more than a month after Maria, which dealt a direct hit 💎to the island just days after Hurricane Irma.
“There cannot be any kind of distraction that alters the commitment to restore electrical power as soon as possible,” Rosselló said, adding that at least $8𝕴 million has been paid to Whitefish so far.
The Federal Emergency Manag😼ement Agency raised concerns about how Whitefish got the deal and whether the prices were reasonable.
A Whitefish contract obtained by the Associated Press fo🍨und that the deal included $20,277 an hour for a heavy lift Chinook heꦺlicopter, $650 an hour for a large crane truck, $322 an hour for a foreman of a power line crew, $319 an hour for a journeyman lineman and $286 an hour for a mechanic. Each worker also gets a daily allowance of $80 for food, $332 for a hotel room and $1,000 for each flight to or from the mainland.
Whitefish said it was “disappointed” with the nullification, adding that “the decision will only delay what the people of P♔uerto Rico want and deserve — to have the power restꦯored quickly.”
Rosselló requested that power crews from New York and Florida come to help restore power in Puerto Rico. Gov. Cuomo has twice visited the islan𒆙d and dispatched hundreds of New York state emergency workers to aid tꦯhe commonwealth over the past few weeks.
Rosselló also slamme🦹d the US Army Corps of Engineers for not meeting ওits goals.
The Puerto Rican Electric Power Authorit🌸y (PREPA) and its contractors have ജonly 404 brigades on the island, Rosselló said, and the USACE has seven.
He said he was seeking more than 1,000 by Nov. 8.
Cuomo praised Rosselló for making a “very smart move,” because it’s better to get help from numerous state governments instead of relying he꧋avily on one contractor. States get reimbursed by the federal government for aiding other states or territories deemed a disaster area.
Zinke has insisted his relationship with Whitef♒ish did not influence💮 the decision to award the massive contract.
With Wires