By The Star Staff
Financial Oversight and Management Board Executive Director Robert Mújica said Thursday he is willing to “talk” with anyone interested in promoting the cancellation of the LUMA Energy operator’s contract, but warned that the purpose of the conversation should be to determine “how we continue forward” in the process of starting work to guarantee repairs and improvements to Puerto Rico’s energy system.
“If someone wants to have that conversation, we are willing to entertain that conversation … but the reality is that we have to define how we move forward,” Mujica said upon leaving the Hospital Association Convention. “How do we convert that $17 billion into workers, and trucks, and operations on the streets? And there are many obstacles in the way, including government officials.”
Mújica stressed that it should also be remembered how the island came to be in the energy situation it is currently facing.
“It was decades of mismanagement of the energy system, decades of poor financing … but now we want to move forward,” he said. “There are no easy solutions on how to do that.”
“Now we have to figure out what needs to be done to invest the money more quickly,” he said about the federal funds allocated for the recovery of the island’s electrical system. “We have $17 billion and we have only spent a billion,”
“Changing the contractor is not necessarily going to achieve that,” Mujica added. “We can talk about that and what that means … the implications of canceling the contract and understanding what the future is going to be after [that happens].”
Despite identifying “many government officials” as obstacles, Mújica gave assurances that the oversight board is willing to collaborate with the next government administration because the goals of both entities coincide.
“We are going to work with whoever the next governor is …” he said. “The board will continue here, but I think we all have the same goal in mind: to improve the lives and opportunities of the people of Puerto Rico. This is our role, and if that is the role of the next governor, I see no reason not to cooperate to achieve the same goal.”
“We may disagree at times, but we can resolve those disagreements and move forward,” the oversight board official added. “That will be the best thing for Puerto Rico.”
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