Loíza Mayor Julia Nazario has denounced delays in coastal erosion projects at the Parcelas Suárez community in Loíza, Puerto Rico, where high surf has been threatening homes. She said the community was told pipes would be installed starting in May, but the work was postponed successively to June, July and August until the swells arrived.
On October 14, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) authorized the town to build a rock barrier on street 10 of Parcelas Suárez, but no start date for the work has been set. Nazario voiced her frustration with DRNA over the delays. According to the mayor, the Transportation and Public Works Department (DTOP) already hired a company to fill the area with material and prepare the ground for the rock covering, but that work remains paused because of dangerous maritime conditions.
Separately, DRNA’s project to install sandbags remains stalled while it waits for a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Resident Aníbal Calderón, 68, who was born and raised on street 9 of the community, said residents are used to the sound of the beach and that the situation has not received the follow-up it deserves, as he waits for a definitive solution to the erosion threatening the area.