Seven years after a Puerto Rico government got $10 million in federal money to build a cemetery and bus station, neither one has been built, and local authorities claim to have no documentation about the projects.
The local government said it has no information about its own decisions, because the only copies of the paperwork are possessed by contractors who are holding it for “ransom.”
The contractors say they’re not cooperating because Puerto Rico stiffed them on payment.
In 2007, the Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the Municipality of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico $2 million to create a mausoleum.The money was required to be spent by 2010.
This year, construction had not started, because of “problems accessing the project site,” which was on land that had long been owned by the local government itself.
Another $6 million-plus was for construction of a four-story building containing parking and a bus terminal, also distributed in 2007 and to be spent by 2010, and with no changes permitted.
By 2015, the abandoned frame of a five-story building sat on the site, with Puerto Rico demanding more federal money to complete the expanded project.
The federal money was supposed to be a loan, but HUD secured no collateral before disbursing the funds, leaving the department with little leverage to prevent an entity from walking away with the money, according to a report this month from the department’s inspector general.
“The records maintained did not properly account for program income, accounts receivable, and capital assets,” the IG audit found.
“The municipality did not maintain a general ledger for the Section 108 program.
The accounting record maintained was a check register that contained incorrect balances and transactions that were not recorded.”
These examples provide some insight as to why Puerto Rico is $70 billion in debt and seeking to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying its creditors..."
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