The rebuilding of a two-bedroom house in Bayamón, funded with more than $424,000 in federal money, has drawn controversy and questions over its high cost. Governor Jenniffer González handed over the home last Friday. It belongs to Rosa Machuca García, who received a new concrete structure to replace her old wood-and-zinc house.
To me it's worth a million dollars,
According to the governor’s social media posts, the CDBG-MIT program funds also covered retaining walls, a sanitary system, solar panels with a battery and a 500-gallon cistern. Some citizens have criticized the outlay of nearly half a million dollars for a small home. The questions center on the project’s total cost and how much was spent specifically on building the structure itself.
Machuca García told Telemundo she was pleased with her new home and downplayed the amount invested. "It’s beautiful, lovely, I love it," she said, adding that she had been waiting a year for her house to be built in concrete. "To me it’s worth a million dollars," she said.
Projects funded with federal money are subject to particular construction and compliance requirements, but the breakdown of the $424,000 remains an open question, including how much went to the complementary works, the installed equipment and the rebuilding of the house.