By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has awarded a $152 million contract to Spanish infrastructure company ACCIONA for the rehabilitation of the Sergio Cuevas drinking water treatment plant in Trujillo Alto, one of the island’s most critical water facilities. According to a statement from ACCIONA, the project aims to repair and modernize the plant after it sustained significant damage during the 2017 hurricane season. Once completed, the faci

Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz By THE STAR STAFF Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz warned on Monday that he will not allow the supremacy clause included in the administration’s bill regarding permits, arguing that it concentrates excessive power and could nullify other laws, regulations, licenses and municipal decisions. “There is a concern raised -- isn’t there? -- and there is a doubt that troubles us; for while it speaks of delegating regulatory authority to cer

Hernaliz Vázquez Torres, director of Sierra Club Puerto Rico (Madres de la Tierra) By THE STAR STAFF Sierra Club Puerto Rico, joined by more than 50 environmental and community organizations, is calling on the public to rally at the Capitol this Wednesday at 11 a.m., ahead of a public hearing on House Bill (HB) 25, legislation that critics say would restrict public access to Puerto Rico’s beaches. “This is a call to the country to come to the Capitol and defend our beaches,”

An examination by the Office of the Inspector General revealed that access to surveillance and monitoring areas managed through an electromagnetic card system and operated by the Auxiliary Secretariat for Security Information Management and Analysis, an entity within the Department of Public Safety, lacked formal authorization procedures for creating user profiles. By THE STAR STAFF An intervention by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has prompted corrective actions t