As you probably know, Puerto Rico is a mess. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigns August 2, and the woman who’s in line to take his place doesn’t want the job. Accusations that the entire government is corrupt and inept have intensified since Hurricane Maria hit the island, and most of them are probably true.
You might remember back in September of last year when CBS News’ David Begnaud confirmed with a senior official at FEMA that viral images shared to Facebook indeed showed “what may be millions of water bottles” that were sent to Puerto Rico by the U.S. federal government a year earlier but never delivered to those in need by local authorities:
BREAKING: What may be millions of water bottles. meant for victims of Hurricane Maria, have been sitting on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, since last year, according to @FEMA, which confirmed the news to me, late tonight, after pictures, posted today on social media, went viral. pic.twitter.com/jidGJAvCyJ
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) September 12, 2018
Begnaud is back, and he’s found thousands more water bottles meant for disposal and recycling dumped in a field somewhere.
Thousands of water bottles – bought by @FEMA for Hurricane Maria survivors – are sitting in a field in Dorado, Puerto Rico. FEMA says the water was supposed to diposed of and the bottles recycled.
I’m working to get more information from FEMA. pic.twitter.com/XXLxySpheb
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 29, 2019
Trump was 100% right when he said Billions of allocated funds were being wasted……But lefties called him a racist for stating the truth as always.
— Anarchy Skywalker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@FedsMy) July 29, 2019
This is just disgusting
— Maria T Velez (@ttereh) July 29, 2019
Horrific waste and corruption..#MakePRGreatAgain
— Jainy (@Jainy93557978) July 29, 2019
That's why we don't want any government any more, they not have clue all the necessity in our island after Maria, and they just waste all that because they don't care about our people. Why we need then a government?
— Shirley Rivera (@kitanamalina) July 29, 2019
Well, there’s talk of letting Congress step in and having President Trump appoint an interim governor if the next in line doesn’t want the job.
And to think during the after of Maria it was at times impossible to get water at the local market
— Ǝfraín (@KIoppismo) July 29, 2019
Disgraceful
— Juan sin Wanda (@JuanConBarba) July 29, 2019
Are these the same bottles that were found sitting on an airstrip months ago? Or a separate set?
— JuxtaposeGOP (@JuxtaGOPosition) July 29, 2019
Separate
— Jean Law (@JeanLaw12) July 29, 2019
In short, FEMA doesn’t know what’s going on either:
This is what @FEMA told me a short time ago: Right now or legal department is reviewing the information that has been made public in the last few days regarding the expired water originally purchased as part of FEMA disaster preparedness operations…”
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 29, 2019
…that was supposed to be disposed and recycled and now it appears to be in a field in Dorado, PR.
We hope to have more concise information by close of business today.”
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 29, 2019
The question is; WHO was paid to recycle and dispose of all that?
— The Last Babyboomer (@coolebra) July 29, 2019
That is disgusting. Can the water be used for non-drinking purposes?
— Carmen Proctor (@ceproctor) July 29, 2019
It surely can. Toilets, showers, plants. Still not it's intended purpose ☹️
— JRL (@jrleon80) July 29, 2019
Expired water? Is it due to the sun breaking down the plastic?
— Just Kathleen (@lazyazhounds) July 29, 2019
Yes. The hot tropical sun turns the water into poison due to the breakdown of the plastic.
— JRL (@jrleon80) July 29, 2019
The sunlight hiiltting that plastic will make them unhealthy. Plastic is a petroleum product.
— ⚡️Chief-Peña ⚡️ (@crewchief27kv) July 29, 2019
This just breaks my heart and irrate me!!! People were in need of water, all of us. You know, supplies after a few weeks were extremely limited. This is completely unacceptable!!! ??????
— MoaningLuna (@PervyLuna) July 29, 2019
Related:
NEWSFLASH: Trump is 100% right about Puerto Rico's local government and these new photos prove it https://t.co/Yc0NceX3B6
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 12, 2018
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