- The Star Staff
Housing chief: Some home reconstruction estimates may be inflated
By John McPhaul
Puerto Rico Housing Secretary Luis Fernández Trinchet expressed his concern on Thursday with the estimates that he has seen so far for the reconstruction of homes with funds from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program.
“We are going to check first -- and that was what I asked the CDBG-DR group last night [Wednesday] -- if indeed the house is one of those that falls under the R3 (Repair, Reconstruction or Relocation) program, and two, that they verify those costs [of estimates]; that is, what is behind those numbers to verify if it makes sense that according to what the house is or what the house appraisal is, and if those numbers make any sense with what is being sought in Puerto Rico,” the secretary said in response to questions from the press.