González Colón says she differs with governor on some issues, agrees with him on others
By The Star Staff
Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón said Thursday that her opinions differ from some of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia’s positions based on her interpretations of the information she reads in the press.
“That is my opinion and I will not change it. I think that LUMA has been deficient, I think that it has to be better supervised,” the resident commissioner said in an interview on Radio Isla. “There are public-private alliances that have worked, such as the airport and in the case of highways, and there should be greater control.”
“I respect the governor a lot, I agree with him on a lot of things, but also with the land [parcel sold in Condado] there are things that I don’t like,” she added. “I read like everyone else does and I have the information of those of us who live in Puerto Rico and make decisions. We will not always be on the same page. I made statements and I reaffirm myself in them. It is not a sin to think differently. And you don’t become a rubber stamp by thinking the same way about everything.”
At the beginning of the week, Pierluisi gave his take on the resident commissioner’s criticism of the work of LUMA Energy, the private operator of the island’s electricity transmission and distribution system, the proposal to take money from the State Insurance Fund to transfer it to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, and the sale of a small piece of land in Condado, which had been a community park, to expand an adjacent building.
“It is not fair on my part to criticize statements of the [resident] commissioner for which she perhaps did not have all the information. Actually she is asked a question and she answers it, to the best of her knowledge and information available to her,” the governor said at a press conference. “For example, regarding the State Insurance Fund, I’m not sure, possibly I didn’t have the detail that this doesn’t come from any reserve. This is an extraordinary surplus that is available. … But the point is this: communication [with the resident commissioner], it’s good.”
“As for the property in the Condado area, if I’m not misquoting her, she said she doesn’t like the transaction,” Pierluisi continued. “And I have said that all the processes established by law were followed. The one who bought the land wants to build on the land and the Municipality of San Juan has already indicated that a public hearing process is going to take place.”