Puerto Rico Appointee to Highway Authority Emphasizes Modernization

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Carlos Contreras Aponte, the appointee to head the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, advocates modernization.

"We are going to focus on making the changes that are necessary in Puerto Rico," Contreras Aponte said at a press conference Thursday after Puerto Rico Governor-Elect Ricardo Rossell- on Thursday announced his appointment as executive director of the authority and secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works. "We are already in the 21st century and we continue to think like the 20th century. It is a fundamental change."

PRHTA had $4.3 billion in outstanding bond debt as of July 2, the second-biggest sum owed by any of Puerto Rico's public corporations.

Contreras Aponte will assume his posts when the new administration starts on Jan. 2. The Puerto Rico Senate must endorse his appointment as secretary before its first session is complete or that appointment would be ended, according to the Puerto Rico Constitution.

He said he would work to streamline the services that Puerto Rico residents experienced on a daily basis. He said he would make information on the department's services available online, while working to improve public transportation.

According to the El Nuevo Día news web site, Contreras Aponte declined to address the financial crisis affecting the department and authority except to say that he would be discussing the topic with Rossell- next week.

Rossell- noted that Contreras Aponte would be the first blind person to lead the Department of Transportation and Public Works.

Contreras Aponte holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus, in civil engineering with an emphasis on transportation. Since his studies he has worked in worked in various positions in the Department of Transportation. He worked as chief of the authority's Office of Traffic Engineering, where Rossell- said he excelled.

The authority's bonds are primarily supposed to be supported by taxes on gasoline, oil and diesel on the island and license fees. In December 2015 Gov. Alejandro García Padilla issued an executive order calling for these streams to be diverted to paying the commonwealth's general obligation and guaranteed debt.

Since then most of the bond payments have been made with bond reserve funds. However, on July 1 the authority failed to pay $4.5 million in debt service due for subordinate 1998 resolution bonds.

According to the commonwealth's appendix to its fiscal plan, the authority's next significant debt payments are $99 million due on Jan. 1, 2017 and $222 million due on July 1, 2017.

Carmen Villar Prado is the authority's current executive director.

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