By The Star Staff
Barceloneta Mayor Wanda Soler Rosario and Ricardo Rivero, the manager of Puerto Rico Premium Outlets, criticized the directors of LUMA Energy on Tuesday for harming business at the shopping center by canceling needed line repair work.
“We agreed several days ago that today, Tuesday, LUMA would carry out work on the line that supplies power to the shopping center,” Soler Rosario said in a written statement. “Given this situation, the Outlets manager coordinated in an organized manner with [the] tenants on the closure of the shopping center. It was last night, Monday, after 8 p.m., when we received a message that LUMA was unable to carry out the work, so it canceled it. The abrupt cancellation of the work represents million-dollar losses for both the outlets and for Barceloneta and the area.”
Ricardo Rivero added that it was “the second time that the date for the work to be carried out by LUMA was changed.”
“The first time, they canceled our contract in advance; however, this time it was just a few hours before the agreed time, which was from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. [Tuesday],” he said. “It is a lack of respect and clear evidence of LUMA’s inability to execute its work plans. The closure of the shopping center has a multiplier effect that impacts the economic development of the area and adversely affects the more than 3,000 employees who work at the outlets. I can tell you in advance that we are evaluating future actions against the consortium in light of the way and manner in which they handled this situation.”
Soler Rosario noted that several days ago in conversations between the municipal administration, Premium Outlets management and LUMA staff, they agreed to close the shopping center to carry out repair work on an electrical line that provides service to the shopping center.
“It is important to note that the outlet operates seven days a week and closes only on holidays included in its work plans,” the mayor said. “Both Rivero and I understand the need to carry out the work to repair the line and we have indeed coordinated the closure; however, they must now identify other ways to carry out the [repairs in the best way possible] without this representing a new closure of the shopping center.”
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