Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Puerto Rico's governor points to the future

In his third State of the Commonwealth speech, Gov. Fortuño touted his accomplishments of the last two years and ushered in a new set of projects that he believes will take the island to recovery.

For a little over an hour, Fortuno, using a clear Republican message, discussed a plethora of past and present issues and his signature project, the new tax reform.

“With the help of the legislative presidents, we approved the largest, most far reaching and most just tax reform in history. We have done it in just two years along with the public that clamored for change,” the Chief Executive said.

According to Fortuño, the reform would save Puerto Ricans almost $1.2 billion annually.
In the 1994 reform, the average savings was $400 million.

Starting this April, tax payers can take advantage of the new Tax Code with a new tax credit.

In the short form, the individual credit deduction can be posted on the 16F line while in the long one, it is on the 31G.

The reform would reduce the individual tax burden of individuals by 50 percent and of corporations by 30 percent.

Fortuño stated that this reform will spark a massive investment in the local market which he argued would create jobs and stabilize the economy.

In a message that could be interpreted as “back-and forth,” the island’s seventh elected governor announced a series of initiatives he hopes will spark a struggling economy.

He called the 2000s a “lost decade” blaming the slowness in economic development on the two administrations of the Popular Democratic Party which governed the island at the time.

The reference of the “lost decade” was first used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1932 campaign stump speech against Republican Herbert Hoover, whom he soundly defeated.
The new measures promised by the New Progressive Party governor are the completion of the financial stabilization plan, the full implementation of the new Tax Code, the expansion of Mi Salud (My Health) health care plan, the refurbishing and development of hundreds of infrastructure projects including water distribution systems and the opening of two long delayed projects.

Projects slated to be dedicated this year are the Vanderbilt Hotel in Condado and the new Dos Hermanos bridge connecting the island of San Juan with the rest of Puerto Rico.
During this year, the administration also plans to start work on the dams of Valenciano in Juncos and Beatriz in the Cayey-Cidra sector at a cost of $475 million.

Once completed, the two new dams will benefit 1.5 million residents in several towns including Las Piedras, Juncos, Humacao, San Lorenzo, Gurabo and the entire Caguas area.

Other infrastructure projects promoted by the governor on Tuesday were the construction of the Bayamón Mega Rotunda which would connect the Highway 177 and 175, the refurbishing of Intersection No. 5 near the Convention Center District, the pavement of the connection between the Highway 53 and 5 in Fajardo and the construction of the Urban Metro system between Bayamón and Toa Baja.

The mountain sector of the island is slated to receive more than $100 million in road repairs and development in 2011 according to the governor.

Since August 2010, the economy has created 27,600 new jobs in the fields of health services, retailing, education and professional service.

Of the $6 billion allocated to the island from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, Fortuño explained that $4.5 billion have already being disbursed, and the rest are already assigned to several projects, mostly infrastructure.

Dismissing an allegation made by the PDP, Fortuño explained that all of the $500 million from the local stimulus fund have already been assigned and are waiting disbursement.

On Monday, PDP President Héctor Ferrer challenged the governor to detail the whereabouts of the funds. He also wanted to know how the Public-Private Alliances were being used.

According to Fortuño, the PAA would be solely responsible fund structure for the investment of more than $3 billion over the next two years.

More than $756 million were assigned for the renovation of 95 schools and the construction of five new ones.

In the social front, Fortuno touted the new adoption law which he credits for an increase in the number of adoptions from 158 in 2008 to 375 in 2010.

Other programs announced by Fortuño on Tuesday are the rebuilding of the Culebra pier, which was destroyed in September, the development of the Torcadero Diverplex tourism complex in Hato Rey and the advancement of the stagnant Americas Port in Ponce.

“We have opened two five-star hotels and in Dorado, we are building the first six-star hotels in the Caribbean with an investment of $342 million. These projects will create 1,000 jobs during construction and 1,000 permanent ones,” Fortuño said.

The government had invested $174 million in the remodeling of 46 residential projects and has started a program to refurbish buildings including the conversion of the Minillas Government Center into a green energy zone at a cost of $70 million.

To stimulate the economy, the governor cited the disbursement of more than $250 million in 825 loans to small businesses on the island.

No comments:

Post a Comment