OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
AOC shared images of her grandmother’s house that is still damaged from Hurricane Maria and blamed Trump for Puerto Rico’s lack of aid, according to The Daily Mail.
Matt Walsh raised over $100,000 for AOC’s grandmother which AOC turned down.
Instead of pointing the finger at Trump AOC’s Aunt said It was Puerto Rico’s problem.
AOC’s aunt said, “In this area people need a lot of help. Many people have needed it for the past four years and haven’t had anything.”
“It’s a problem here in Puerto Rico with the administration and the distribution of help. It is not a problem with Washington. We had the assistance and it didn’t get to the people.”
Marcelina Ramos a neighbor of AOC’s Grandmother said, “FEMA gave me money, but it wasn’t enough to fix this place. I just had to take what they offered to try to make it habitable.”
“Others in this street just gave up. Their houses were destroyed and they couldn’t fix them. We hear they plan to come back some day, but who knows. Many just left the island and went to Miami.”
“We agree with what AOC is saying. There still isn’t enough help.”
Sandra Jimenez said, “I did all the paperwork, they came and checked the house, but I received no money. It’s been so long now that I have no faith I will get help.”
Jimenez had just finished construction on her home right before Hurricane Maria hit.
From The Daily Mail:
AOC also claimed in her string of tweets about her gran and Maria that eligibility rules for rebuilding cash had been tightened – and that developers were making a killing because people were forced to abandon their homes.
Proving ownership in order to get cash remains the toughest requirement for many islanders. About half of homes built on the island never had permits according to the Puerto Rican Builders Association.
Many other homes were simply built on vacant land. And inheritance on the island is often informal and without any paperwork, so it is impossible to prove a person has the title deeds to a property.
Bordering the charming store and café-lined square in Arecibo lies the city hall containing the municipal government, which has jurisdiction over where AOC’s gran lives. Inside, planning director Leslie Orama offered a possible solution to the roof dilemma facing the US politician’s relative.
She said simply: ‘If we can get the name of the lady, we might be able to reach some other funding that could be helpful for her to ensure that she lives under appropriate conditions.’
Orama said if people had been refused by FEMA, they could go to the municipal government for possible help through various grants now available.
She added: ‘There are City Development Block Grants and they have a lot of programs, including regular funding to help people fix their homes.
‘If the citizen comes and we are able to help, we will make every effort to support them.’
She denied AOC’s statement that relief ‘hasn’t arrived’, adding ‘that’s not the case’. Yet she admitted problems, saying: ‘It is just that it has been limited in the amount that can be handed to the people that were affected, because of the process itself.
‘It might require objective evidence that people might not be able to provide. One of those is proof of ownership. What’s happening is not that the money is not there, it’s just the requirements to get the help makes it difficult to receive it.’
The city official also cited past corruption – but said it was in the claims, not the distribution. She added: ‘I know that the federal government has been making sure that the money goes to the right places. It is not that I support the way they are acting or working, but I understand that they might be ensuring that all the support is handled correctly.
‘Sometimes the claims are not real. Or people even damage their own stuff in order to get money. Some people do the right thing, some people don’t.’
