Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives on Wednesday approved Joint Resolution 423, which seeks to transfer ownership and administration of the Río Camuy Caves Park to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and promote a public-private partnership (APP) to rehabilitate the facilities. The measure passed with 43 votes in favor and three against; seven representatives were absent.
The proposal is pushed by the mayors of Camuy, Hatillo and Lares, Gabriel Hernández Rodríguez, Carlos Román Román and Fabián Arroyo Rodríguez, who want a management model to recover the park, expand its tourism offerings and share part of its revenue among the three towns. Under the concept "One Project, 3 Towns," a private operator would take on investment, rehabilitation, maintenance and operation, in coordination with Tourism and the towns.
Hernández Rodríguez, who also chairs the Puerto Rico Mayors’ Federation, said the park "has remained closed for too long." The plan departs from the model favored by the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA), which proposed hiring a private operator without a conventional APP. A 2023 study by the Public-Private Partnerships Authority recommended against a conventional APP and suggested a five-to-ten-year operator contract managed by DRNA.
In October 2025, the DRNA secretary ruled out an APP or control by neighboring towns. The mayors now ask for updated technical, environmental and financial studies. They agreed on the recommendations at an October 8 meeting, after Román Román and Arroyo Rodríguez had earlier backed an intermunicipal consortium.
The initiative also contemplates evaluating ecotourism lodging and more concession space, subject to permits and carrying-capacity limits.