Getting disaster aid to Puerto Rico ‘priority’ for Biden

MIAMI: The Biden administration is working to release hurricane disaster aid for Puerto Rico that had been withheld by the Trump administration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday.

Psaki, speaking during her press briefing, said the president had made it a priority to release the Hurricane Mariarelated funding.

Of the roughly $66 billion in aid Congress approved for Puerto Rico after the 2017 storm, only about $17.3 billion — less than a third of the total amount — has been distributed to the American territory.

Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which killed thousands and demolished critical infrastructure in 2017, even as it grapples with an earthquake sequence that began in late 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic. Both Puerto Rican officials and federal officials say the delays in receiving the hurricane relief have held up infrastructure repairs and increased the burden on residents. — TNS