Governor urges Orocovis mayor to comply with law before hiring own electricity brigades

Orocovis Mayor Jesús Colón Berlingeri (Facebook via Entérate)

By The Star Staff

With more than 51,000 electric power customers on the island still without service on Monday, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia urged Orocovis Mayor Jesús “Gardy” Colón Berlingeri to comply with the law before the municipality intervenes in the repair of the electrical system, following the blackouts caused by the passage of Tropical Storm Ernesto last week.

During a press conference, Pierluisi emphasized the importance of following legal procedures to ensure safety.

“There is a law that establishes the requirements for municipalities to be able to intervene in the electrical system, so what happens here is that the law must be complied with,” the governor said in response to questions from the press. “This is a society of law and order. There must be a signed contract between LUMA and the municipality and a notification.”

“We must all remember that the safety of the personnel working on the lines, as well as the people in general, comes before everything else,” Pierluisi added. “We cannot put the safety of our people at risk.”

Colón Berlingeri had described as a “hoax” and “an injustice” the statement by LUMA Energy, the private operator of the island’s electrical grid, that the municipality is not authorized to appoint private brigades to repair power lines. In statements to the newspaper Metro Puerto Rico, Colón Berlingeri insisted that the municipality has complied with all legal requirements, including notifying LUMA and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). The mayor also pointed out that 61.25% of the population of Orocovis was still without electricity, mainly in the Saltos, Bauta Abajo and Botijas 1 neighborhoods.

The mayor said he will withdraw the brigades hired by the municipality “as long as they [LUMA] guarantee me that they will have brigades in our town and they will be serving our people in a responsible manner.”

Colón Berlingeri said communication with LUMA has been “ambiguous, light and with little substance,” despite the efforts of the municipality to coordinate the necessary repairs.