Puerto Rico economy at ‘near standstill’ as businesses wait for power

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Economic activity has skidded to a near halt in significant parts of Puerto Rico, leaving the hurricane-smashed island on a knife’s edge between slow recovery and partial collapse. Thousands of small businesses are teetering toward insolvency, unable to operate.

Heading into the fourth week since Hurricane Maria slammed into the island, barely 1 out of 6 clients of the islandwide electric utility has power. The rest remain in darkness.

The hum of generators has become the new soundtrack of island life.

The large pharmaceutical manufacturing plants that comprise the backbone of the island’s export economy report major losses, but are slowly returning to operations, powered by diesel. The Bacardi rum empire reported “no major losses” and its rum inventories are safe.

Not so lucky are mom-and-pop shops, law firms, family-run farms, real estate offices, some hotels, large shopping malls and advertising businesses.

“For advertising, it’s all dead,” said Jaime Diaz Caban, a 41-year-old graphic designer. “Most agencies that weren’t destroyed by the hurricane itself have seen their billings go to zero.”

Gov. Ricardo Rossello wrote a letter to four key leaders on Capitol Hill last weekend pleading for rapid disbursement of $4.6 billion to “meet the immediate emergency needs of Puerto Rico” beyond relief provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“In addition to the physical destruction, Puerto Rico’s economy has ground to a near standstill,” Rossello wrote. “Very few businesses are operating.”

All the stores on a once-busy commercial street in the city of Caguas were shuttered earlier this week — except for two.

“I’ve got a generator, and they’ve got a generator,” said Antonio Lopez Martinez, owner of the Personal Defense gun shop, signaling to another store across the street. “But all the others don’t.” Using generators adds considerably to operating expenses, he said.

“You’re using 12 to 15 gallons of diesel a day. If you’re working six days a week, you’re talking about 90 gallons a week at $4 a gallon,” Lopez Martinez said.

Some business owners said commercial generators are not built to endure the months of power outages that Puerto Rico is likely to sustain.

“I’ve bought two generators and the two generators have both broken down. I have to buy a third one,” said Julio Soto Quijano, a jeweler. “They aren’t meant to be used this hard.”