By The Star Staff
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary General Juan Luis Camacho Semidei, along with a group of fellow party leaders, called on Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón to request the dismissal of Fermín Fontanés Gómez as director of the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) due to a lack of effective oversight regarding the contract with LUMA Energy, the embattled private operator of the island’s electric power transmission and distribution system.
“Since the implementation of the contract, Fontanés has dedicated himself to defending LUMA and has deprived the Puerto Rican people of quality service,” Camacho Semidei said in a written statement. “The people cannot stand another empty and insensitive explanation from LUMA. Action must be taken against this company and that is the responsibility of the P3A and its director, Fermín Fontanés. The resident commissioner is part of this government and, as president of the NPP, she can demand the removal of this official.”
The recently installed PDP secretary general also criticized González Colón, the NPP candidate for governor, for “not having done anything to improve the situation” of the residents of three southern towns struggling with power supply woes that LUMA Energy has been slow to resolve.
“The NPP candidate for governor used the LUMA issue as a political football in the primary, but beyond that she has done nothing to improve the situation of the residents of Coamo, Aibonito and Santa Isabel,” he said. “She can start by requesting the dismissal of Fermín Fontanés, but she will not do so because her goal is not the people, but power.”
The PDP officials noted that over the past year the island has seen a significant increase in power outages, a lack of proper maintenance of the electrical infrastructure and an insufficient response to emergencies, which has negatively affected the daily lives of citizens and has had a negative impact on the local economy and confidence in government institutions.
“This gentleman [Fontanés Gómez] has not been responsible with his obligations and has only been looking for those to blame for the lack of oversight, when he is the one in charge of supervising LUMA [and making sure that it] complies with its contract,” Camacho Semidei said. “He has shown a worrying inaction and an inability to ensure that the agreed upon terms are met. His lack of action demonstrates a serious negligence in his responsibilities, putting the stability and well-being of our communities at risk.”
PDP officials demanded concrete actions from the central government to address the problem.
“For the past few years, LUMA and the NPP government have held Puerto Rico hostage on the electricity issue,” they said. “The island deserves transparent, efficient and responsible management of its electrical system. Citizens cannot continue to bear the consequences of poor administration and a contract that is not being fulfilled as it should be. It is time for the government to act in defense of the interests of all Puerto Ricans and guarantee reliable and safe electrical service.”
Fontanés Gómez responded later on Tuesday: “As we have previously stated, the Public-Private Partnerships Authority is responsible for ensuring compliance by LUMA Energy and Genera with their contractual obligations.”
“It is important to remember that the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau is the entity responsible for supervising everything related to the technical and operational compliance of both operators,” the P3A chief said. “The statements made by Juan Luis Camacho Semidei this morning are not true and do not reflect the integrity of my reputation. In addition, they demonstrate a lack of knowledge of the alliance contracts and the roles, responsibilities and obligations established therein for each of the parties. He also seems to be unaware of the internal administrative processes carried out by the P3A on a daily basis with respect to the operators, and of the requests for information that are made on a daily basis in order to ensure adequate monitoring of the work of both operators.”
“As executive director of the P3A, I have been clear in stating that LUMA must work quickly to address the incidents of recent weeks, in order to ensure the continuity of electrical service in areas that have been severely affected and that need permanent solutions that result in stability of the entire system,” Fontanés Gómez said. “At this time, our focus is to continue the ongoing investigations to gain clarity on what happened and thus determine the appropriate actions by both the Public-Private Partnership Authority and the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau.”
Instead of engaging in finger-pointing and blame, Puerto Rico's political leadership should band together and find real, actionable solutions to the island's interminable power woes.