美国国家公共电台 NPR--Puerto Rico faces obstacles to recovery in the aftermath of Fiona

Puerto Rico faces obstacles to recovery in the aftermath of Fiona

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with professor Yarimar Bonilla, director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. about obstacles ahead for recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Professor Yarimar Bonilla is with us now to talk more about what people are facing in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the storm. She's the director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City. Professor Bonilla, welcome to the program.

YARIMAR BONILLA: Yes, always happy to be here, I suppose.

FADEL: I'm sorry that it's in these circumstances. And I know you have family on the island, right? How are they doing?

BONILLA: You know, as all Puerto Ricans say, they're OK. But, you know, OK means that they don't have any water, they don't have any power.

FADEL: Wow.

BONILLA: And they're not sure when it's going to come back.

FADEL: So what are they doing in the meantime without power, without water?

BONILLA: Well, Puerto Ricans are - you know, they know how to do this, right? They somehow spent a year without power after Maria.

FADEL: Yeah.

BONILLA: So they have their battery-powered radios. They have their gas camping stove and their portable solar lights. My family can't afford a generator². One of my uncle who does have a generator, unfortunately, when he went to turn it on, it didn't work. So even some with generators³ are in the dark.

FADEL: Wow. Now, I keep going back to this. I asked a reporter this. I want to ask this to you as well because, as you mentioned, after Hurricane Maria, people think of these storms and what could happen. Today is five years to the day since that storm made landfall on the island, plunged⁴ it into darkness for months, killed nearly 3,000 people, destroyed homes and businesses. People are still recovering. Billions of dollars were allocated⁵ from Congress to rebuild and rebuild so that the island could withstand storms like this. And yet here we're watching a weaker storm, although the rainfall has been constant, just devastate⁶ the island. Why?

BONILLA: Well, part of it has to do with climate change. Of course.

FADEL: Yeah.

BONILLA: That means that these storms are coming faster and faster, but it also has to do with the fact that emergency response hasn't adapted to climate change. It's not rebuilding in time. And so some of the recovery in Puerto Rico has been extremely slow, part of it because of the bureaucracy of FEMA that takes a long time to release funds, that often does patchwork⁷, temporary solutions, like this bridge that we all saw wash away like a twig⁸ because it couldn't even stand, you know, a Category 1 storm.

FADEL: And this is a bridge that was rebuilt after...

BONILLA: After Maria.

FADEL: ...It was destroyed by Maria. Yeah.

BONILLA: Yes, but it was a temporary bridge, and the permanent bridge, you know, was not even started yet. And, you know, part of it was also that FEMA funds, they're always slow, but they were overly policed when it came to Puerto Rico. They were held back. They were extremely vetted⁹. And I'm talking here at the societal level. At the individual level as well, a disproportionate number of individuals never received FEMA payments from Maria in the first place to rebuild from Maria. And so we know that there were still people in their blue tarps or people who were never able to really fully¹⁰ repair their homes.

FADEL: Now, why? Why did this happen? And what should FEMA have done differently, in your opinion?

BONILLA: Well, there was overpolicing of individual applications, and there was also a delay in getting that help out. And in some cases, there was more emphasis on relocating people outside of Puerto Rico rather than in helping¹¹ them rebuild. And so these are all things that we will be looking to FEMA to do differently this time.

FADEL: Now, the island's entire power grid¹² went down with this storm. That also happened five years ago. And again, there was a lot of emphasis about fixing the power grid, and there's been a lot of criticism around that. Why did it fail again?

BONILLA: Well, part of it is that there was an emphasis by the federal government and the fiscal¹³ appointed - the federally appointed fiscal board in Puerto Rico, that the electric grid had to be privatized before it could be repaired or modernized¹⁴. And so the emphasis was not on updating, modernizing¹⁵ the electric grid, using sustainable energy, creating redundancies in the system - all the things you would imagine, you know, would be an emphasis in a place that we know is going to continue to be hit by hurricanes 'cause it's in the Caribbean. Instead, the focus has been on privatizing the grid to a company that experts have found is not transparent¹⁶, is not accountable, and does not have sufficient personnel to attend to the grid in moments like these.

FADEL: Now, after Hurricane Maria, how did Puerto Rico's status as a U.S. territory rather than a state or a sovereign nation impact the way the island was rebuilt or in this rebuilding process that is incomplete, really?

BONILLA: Well, we see that we don't get the same amount of federal funds. We don't qualify for all sorts of federal funds. There's also a lack of knowledge at times of what funds need to be requested versus¹⁷ which ones are immediately released. And individuals are not getting enough funds. At the same time, we don't have the sovereignty to create our own vision of a FEMA or of emergency management. And under the current austerity policies, we barely even have, you know, functioning infrastructure¹⁹ because there have been so much cuts to public services. So it affects in every possible way.

FADEL: So when we're looking at the destruction now with Fiona, what are the consequences of those decisions now that - the challenges faced because it's a U.S. territory?

BONILLA: I mean, part of it is that because of the shrinking of the Puerto Rican government under austerity, more and more burden is placed on individuals that they have to get groceries, get solar batteries, get all the provisions that they need, including drinking water. But these individuals have been impoverished²⁰ by austerity politics. They're paying the highest income tax in the entire United States. And the Fiscal Control Board denied reducing income tax on hurricane supplies. So they have to front all this money that now they don't know if they're going to be supported in any way. I mean, so many applications were denied after Maria that, really, one would hope that there would be some lessons learned after COVID and of the help that just immediate¹⁸ cash payments can make to people. So hopefully folks in disaster areas don't have to go through complicated bureaucracy just to get the lifesaving supplies that they need and that the government is not able to provide them.

FADEL: Well, let's expand on that. In your view, how should the federal government's disaster relief approach in Puerto Rico change? How does it need to change?

BONILLA: Well, I think there needs to be less bureaucracy and less vetting²¹, which might sound contradictory²². But the fact is that the resources that FEMA spent on overpolicing Puerto Rico's applications for aid and creating more and more red tape could have just gone to helping Puerto Ricans. And most of the people who were found to have engaged in corruption²³ related to FEMA policies were actually federal employees or contractors²⁴. So we know that it wasn't Puerto Ricans who were gaming the systems, but it was Puerto Ricans who were being policed.

FADEL: In the few seconds we have left, for people listening who want to help, what is the best way for them to help Puerto Ricans who need that right now?

BONILLA: I think all Puerto Ricans will say to contribute to community organizations that have already proven themselves in the wake of Maria. And there's one called Maria Fund that channels money to multiple organizations. So that's a good place to go.

FADEL: Professor Yarimar Bonilla is the director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. Thank you so much for your time.

BONILLA: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

3 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

5 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

6 devastate   

v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒

参考例句：

• A few days before,a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.几天前，温莎城堡的大部分被一场大火烧毁。
• Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis,which devastate coastal regions.地震还引发海啸，它直接破坏海岸地区。

7 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

8 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

9 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

13 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

14 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

15 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

16 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

17 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

19 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

20 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

22 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

23 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

24 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》