Tatito’s Transport, a school transport company serving schools in Trujillo Alto, San Juan and Loíza, will suspend operations on Tuesday because of nonpayment by Puerto Rico’s Department of Education (DE), José Rosado Rolón, president of the Federación de Porteadores Escolares de Puerto Rico, said. In an interview on Telemundo Puerto Rico’s "Primera Pregunta," Rosado Rolón said some companies have gone months without being paid and that "there is a crisis in the industry" and drivers are desperate.
He said the government has still not paid roughly $9.5 million owed for school transportation services already provided, and that the debt affects dozens of small and medium-sized businesses that must cover fuel, maintenance, repairs, parts, tires, insurance, licenses, inspections, financing and payroll. On October 5, Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés acknowledged the agency owed the school transporters and said he was working to secure a disbursement to settle the pending obligations.
In written statements, Ramos Parés said the DE had made payments totaling $12 million in previous months and had corrected internal processes that caused delays in processing invoices, and that the Office of Management and Budget (OGP) approved funds during the summer to pay debts from prior years. He said the new financial system has posed challenges.