Government of Puerto Rico refers Whitefish contract audit to the Office of the Comptroller

29 de octubre de 2017

NOTICIAS | AEE , Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica , Ejecutivo , Energía , Huracán María , NOTICIAS , Obligaciones y Contratos , Whitefish

Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, requested the Office of the Comptroller to investigate and audit the contracting process of the Whitefish company by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).

Read the letter (in Spanish)

The governor referred the report that was delivered by the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), José Marrero, to the comptroller Yesmín Valdivieso.

The referred report establishes that —although PREPA has broad powers and flexibility to award contracts during an emergency period— the information compiled during the given time "is not sufficient to conclude if the hiring complied with all the requirements established in the organic law of the corporation and the applicable regulations.»

The director of the OMB also requested that the information collected be sent to an entity with the expertise and resources to conduct a more thorough investigation of the hiring process.

Governor Rosselló requests such investigation in accordance with the powers established by the Constitution and Law No. 9, in order to monitor compliance with legal and administrative requirements.

During the past weeks, a series of doubts have been raised regarding the contracting process of the company Whitefish Energy, contracted by PREPA for the restoration of the power grid of the Island.

Due to this, the governor requested an audit from the director of the OMB about the contracting process of said company and granted a period of 48 hours to complete the task.

The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico is in charge of overseeing transactions of property and public funds, in addition to seeking the effective and efficient use of government resources, in accordance with Article III, Section 22 of the Constitution of Puerto Rico and Law No. 9 of July 24, 1952.