ORLANDO, Fla. — Representatives with the Government of Puerto Rico met with Central Florida leaders at Orlando City Hall Wednesday to discuss reconstruction efforts on the island.
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The by-invitation-only discussion took place in the evening. It provided community leaders with an understanding of reconstruction progress on the island, plans for the future, and efforts to engage the community in recovery.
Following the devastation brought by Hurricane Maria in 2017, billions of federal dollars have gone to help the island rebuild.
An Office for Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resiliency was created to help ensure those dollars are put to good use.
Manuel Laboy is the Executive Director, for that Puerto Rican Office and is overseeing recovery efforts on the island.
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According to Laboy, $46 billion in FEMA funds alone have been obligated to help rebuild infrastructure on the island.
“The money is flowing finally,” said Laboy, “The reality is things have changed in a good way. We are making progress.”
According to Laboy, the Puerto Rican Government has thousands of projects in various stages of bidding and construction. He says 44 percent of those FEMA funds have been disbursed with most of the funding going towards reconstructing the electric grid.
“The state of the electrical infrastructure was already deteriorated mainly because the lack of investment, lack of maintenance, and decades of irresponsible practices,” said Laboy, “We paid the price when Maria hit.”
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In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the power was out across the island for months.
Data from the UCF Puerto Rico Research hub shows during that time, thousands of Puerto Ricans left the island. Nearly 20,000 people came to Orange and Osceola counties.
“Obviously it took a while for the for the island to get electricity, communications, water, all those type of things. But eventually that did settle. And people started returning,” said Fernando Rivera, director of the UCF Puerto Rico Research hub.
Mirta Iris Rivera Hernandez is one of hundreds that came to Central Florida after the Hurricane, but she returned to the island in the months that followed.
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She lived with her sister in Poinciana for four months where she said the Puerto Rican community embraced her: donating clothing, furniture, and toys for her then 2-year-old daughter.
Rivera Hernandez had her master’s degree in psychology at the time but said her job prospects in the U.S. were limited by English skills.
She ultimately got a job opportunity working to provide security services, but once power returned to the island she decided to return too.
“In Puerto Rico we had a house, in Puerto Rico we had work, in Puerto Rico we had a car. Then there was water and light. We had to return…we did return because in all of my months in the U.S. I couldn’t establish myself here,” said Rivera Hernandez, who is now back in Puerto Rico and studying to become a lawyer.
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During Wednesday’s discussion at Orlando City Hall, leaders discussed the need for more people like Rivera Hernandez to play a role in Puerto Rico’s comeback story.
Laboy believes with billions in federal funding at work, the island is ripe for those seeking new opportunities.
“We are very proud of the work that has been happening in Puerto Rico but we need more people. We need more contractors, we need more hands at work, we need skilled labor,” said Laboy.
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