By The Star Staff
New Progressive Party (NPP) Secretary General Hiram Torres Montalvo criticized former Villalba Mayor Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz on Sunday for leaving the municipality with over $251,000 in debt to LUMA Energy and $3.4 million to the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA).
Torres Montalvo said the incoming mayor’s transition committee would evaluate potential investigations into Hernández’s administration.
On Monday, Interim Mayor and Administrator Marena Navarro responded to the allegations, noting that the debts to both utility companies had accumulated over several years, with established and up-to-date payment plans in place.
She also noted that some items are being challenged by the municipality. The real debt to LUMA Energy is $135,000, not $250,000 as Torres Montalvo claimed, she added.
Navarro expressed disappointment in the incoming administration’s distortion of public information and half-truths, assuring that each incorrect allegation would be addressed promptly. She emphasized her commitment to transparency and responsibility, and said the truth would prevail. A payment of $400,000 has already been allocated to PRASA from the Special Additional Contribution to address the outstanding debt.
Navarro said it was “regrettable” that the incoming transition team has chosen “to confuse citizens.”
“The reality is duly documented in the final transition report that we already delivered to the incoming party,” she said.
Last month, Danny Santiago Nuñez of the New Progressive Party won election as Villalba’s next mayor, garnering 51% of the vote. The runner-up, Wilfredo Santos Colón of the Popular Democratic Party, received 47%.
Hernández, who had been Villalba’s mayor since 2013, was elected to an at-large seat in the island Senate in November. He had also until recently served as the president of the Puerto Rico Mayor’s Association, which groups the island’s Popular Democratic Party mayors.
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