[quote]The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Tuesday that it will end free supplies of food and water in Puerto Rico this week as the island's supermarkets and other businesses reopen following Hurricane Maria.
NPR reported Tuesday that FEMA will "officially shut off" aid to the island on Wednesday after providing more than 30 million gallons of drinking water and 60 million meals to its inhabitants.
"The reality is that we just need to look around. Supermarkets are open, and things are going back to normal," FEMA Puerto Rico director Alejandro De La Campa told NPR.
[u]Not all of Puerto Rico's government officials agree with the agency's decision to end aid this week. Morovis Mayor Carmen Maldonado told NPR that in her town, the number of customers without power restored to their homes is close to 80 percent and that most residents can't afford the cost of a generator.
"There are some municipalities that may not need the help anymore, because they've got nearly 100 percent of their energy and water back," she said. "Ours is not so lucky."[/u]
"This is all something that FEMA should contemplate before eliminating its delivery of these supplies," the mayor added.
De La Campa addressed the need for families to go back to supermarkets and boost the Puerto Rican economy.[/quote]
What a terrible move. So much of PR still is in desperate need, and we're going to cut off aid to our own citizens?
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Why are we giving the shaft to our own citizens? This only accomplishes making us look even worse on the world scale, if we aren't labeled as pariahs at this point.