Rossello submits bills to reorganize DTOP, projects $13M in savings in 1st year
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló submitted legislative measures to reorganize the Department of Transportation and Public Works, which will generate $13 million in the first year and $142 million in five years, according to the Fiscal Plan.
The DTOP, as the agency is
known for its initials in Spanish, will be the umbrella agency for the Traffic
Safety Commission, the Integrated Transport Authority (ATI, for its initials in
Spanish), the Metropolitan Bus Authority (AMA, in Spanish) and the Maritime
Transport Authority (ATM, in Spanish).
“My view has always been
that the government must be a facilitator. To this end, our public policy has
been to reduce government gigantism and create a more agile and efficient
government, guaranteeing services to Puerto Ricans,” said Rosselló.
The consolidation is expected
to generate administrative efficiencies, better and dedicated services to
citizens and continuity of access to federal funds, maximizing their use, he
said.
Through the proposed
reorganization, the ATM and AMA will become DTOP programs. ATI, an entity
created by law in 2014 that was never implemented, will be consolidated in the
DTOP. Finally, the Traffic Safety Commission becomes a division within the
DTOP, to safeguard federal funds received by the agency at present.
The governor sent to the Legislature
a measure allowing the outsourcing of Farm Insurance Corporation, which would
allow it to reach an agreement with the private sector to manage agricultural
insurance programs.
“After the passing of Hurricanes
Irma and María, and the effect they had on agriculture, agricultural insurance
has become more important. Given the government’s fiscal and economic crisis, I
believe the private sector is the best alternative to provide farmers with the
best coverage to insure their crops,” said Rosselló during a news conference
at La Fortaleza.
“In two years, we have
reorganized 37 agencies, corporations or programs, with savings projected at $70
million annually. With that, we fulfill the need to reorganize the government
contained in the Fiscal Plan,” he said, of the Certified Fiscal Plan of
Oct. 23, 2018.
In 2018, the governor signed
into law the reorganizations of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce,
the Public Service Regulatory Board, the Department of Natural and
Environmental Resources, the Board of Education and the Model Forest.
In 2017, laws were approved
creating the Department of Public Safety and the Office of the Municipal
Affairs Commissioner was eliminated.
