Union backs bill seeking to remove NMEAD from DSP because it ‘has been disastrous’
- The San Juan Daily Star
- Sep 15
- 2 min read
By THE STAR STAFF
Liz Colón Alicea, president of the Authentic Union of Emergency Managers (SAME by its acronym in Spanish), announced on Sunday that Popular Democratic Party Rep. Ramón Torres Cruz filed a petition to remove the Emergency Management and Disaster Administration Bureau (NMEAD) from the Department of Public Safety.
“The approval of this bill is necessary because this office is immersed in an operational and administrative crisis,” Colón Alicea said in a written statement. “The administrative processes at the Emergency Management and Disaster Administration Bureau (NMEAD) are not being addressed with the required urgency, effectiveness, and diligence. In general terms, we can mention two relevant areas within the Department of Public Safety and its administration: Human Resources and Finance, two entities that have been affected within the Bureau.”
“In the Human Resources and Labor Relations area of the DSP, there is no equality or uniformity in the processes for all Bureau responders,” she added. “Despite the fact that NMEAD employees are first responders, they are not given priority in incentives, salary increases, changes in position status, and overtime pay for emergencies.”
“It is outrageous that work and legislation are being done to benefit only one component of the Department of Public Safety, while the other components, which also make up the first line of response, are excluded,” the SAME leader continued. “Currently, the number of emergency managers is far below the enrollment of other components of the Department of Public Safety.
“The lack of knowledge regarding administrative processes in the administration of NMEAD in recent years is evident, but we cannot fail to mention how disastrous the creation of the Department of Public Safety has been.”
In the measure, Torres Cruz proposes repealing provisions of Law 20-2017, known as the “Department of Public Safety Law,” and restoring NMEAD to the autonomy it enjoyed under Law 211 of 1999.
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