Lawmaker: Administrative instability in PRASA’s Northern Region is ‘not a luxury’.
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 22 minutes ago
- 2 min read
By THE STAR STAFF
District 14 (Arecibo and Hatillo) Rep. Edgar Robles Rivera expressed serious concern Tuesday regarding what he said was the severe administrative instability and improvisation plaguing the Northern Region of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), which between Feb. 25 and March 3, has unexpectedly experienced three changes in its leadership.
The situation is occurring while the towns in the region face numerous complaints about delays in new water connections, constant service interruptions, and leaks reported in various sectors, disrupting life for thousands of customers and numerous families who depend on the service for their homes, businesses and schools.
“What’s happening is not normal. We can’t have constant turnover in such a sensitive region, since it depends on filtration plants that are not easy to operate,” said Robles Rivera, who chairs the Consumer Affairs Committee in the lower chamber. “While our families face prolonged water outages and leaks everywhere, the PRASA administration keeps passing the buck. How is it possible that the Northern Region has had three changes in leadership in less than three weeks and, to this day, still doesn’t have a real work plan? Administrative stability is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”
The legislator recalled that, after the withdrawal of an appointment, no official information was initially offered, and that, later, the towns of the Northern Region learned through a press release that a new executive director for the Northern Region was being evaluated. Furthermore, the person who was directing operations in the area that directly impacts Arecibo was moved to another region, once again leaving the administrative structure serving the towns of the region in uncertainty.
“We are not against the appointments,” the lawmaker said. “What we demand is clarity, stability, and a concrete plan. You can’t improvise in a region that manages critical infrastructure, thousands of subscribers, and multiple active operational situations. The public needs immediate answers and solutions, not more improvised changes that only generate delays and frustration.”
“Where do they get the idea that to stabilize one region you have to destabilize another?” Robles Rivera asked. “What is the short- and long-term plan to resolve the current situations in the Northern Region?”