Trump waives Jones Act shipping restrictions for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico - Polidicks

[quote]"It is intended to ensure we have enough fuel and commodities to support lifesaving efforts, respond to the storm, and restore critical services and critical infrastructure operations in the wake of these devastating storms," Duke said. Rossello quickly thanked Trump for the assistance on Twitter.[/quote] [url]https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/28/trump-waives-shipping-restrictions-puerto-rico/711541001/[/url]

Could this have been done two weeks ago?

[QUOTE=EcksDee;52726894]Could this have been done two weeks ago?[/QUOTE] It was actually waved when the other hurricanes hit and Puerto Rico was included but that ended a week ago. He definitely could have be quicker

I wonder why they changed their mind. It was initially denied despite being waived for both Harvey and Irma. [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/puerto-rico-maria-irma-hurricane-waiver-to-bring-vital-fuel-and-supplies-to-island-a7969156.html[/url]

[QUOTE=laserpanda;52726908]I wonder why they changed their mind. It was initially denied despite being waived for both Harvey and Irma.[/QUOTE] Because the backlash was growing against him and someone in the office probably caved and said he should do this for some good press. Who knows real reason, he was delaying because he said some shipping people wouldn't be happy with it being waived. But who gives a fuck about that when us citizens are dying and need help

[QUOTE=laserpanda;52726908]I wonder why they changed their mind. It was initially denied despite being waived for both Harvey and Irma. [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/puerto-rico-maria-irma-hurricane-waiver-to-bring-vital-fuel-and-supplies-to-island-a7969156.html[/url][/QUOTE] The Governor asked for it to be waved, so he waved it. But adding more shipping isn't going to do anything. The infrastructure is completely devastated in Puerto Rico. They have thousands and thousands of shipping containers already in the port of San Juan ready to go out but it can't. The roads are trashed and blocked and virtually no truck drivers are on hand to start moving the aid out.

Crowley already has 4000 containers worth of Aid in Puerto Rico but they cannot distribute it due to lack of resources. Waiving the Jones act isn't going to move those containers faster. What PR needs is man power on the ground so they can distribute the goods to where they're needed. Theres a huge bottleneck. [quote]Domestic firms have moved 9,500 containers to Puerto Rico, according to the American Maritime Partnership. Early Thursday, six tankers holding almost 76,000 gallons of fuels like gasoline and diesel were anchored in the waters outside the island, Bloomberg vessel-tracking data show.[/quote] [url]http://gcaptain.com/mountain-of-aid-sitting-on-docks-in-storm-stricken-san-juan/[/url] It's slowly trickling out. [editline]28th September 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Potus;52726916]Because the backlash was growing against him and someone in the office probably caved and said he should do this for some good press. Who knows real reason, he was delaying because he said some shipping people wouldn't be happy with it being waived. But who gives a fuck about that when us citizens are dying and need help[/QUOTE] The real reason is probably not as sinister as people want it to be. [url]http://gcaptain.com/american-maritime-industry-fights-back-false-claims-regarding-jones-act-relief-efforts-puerto-rico/[/url] You can park all the Aid in the world on the ports of San Juan but it's not going to save a single person if it can't get where it's needed. Don't get me wrong, it's ultimately a good thing, but I don't it's going to have major impacts until they get some infrastructure back.

[QUOTE=EcksDee;52726894]Could this have been done two weeks ago?[/QUOTE] could've, but it wouldn't have done any good. they've got no infrastructure to distribute aid through. there's already plenty of aid in the port of san juan but it's currently so inaccessible it may as well be in germany

[QUOTE=OvB;52727077]Crowley already has 4000 containers worth of Aid in Puerto Rico but they cannot distribute it due to lack of resources. Waiving the Jones act isn't going to move those containers faster. What PR needs is man power on the ground so they can distribute the goods to where they're needed. Theres a huge bottleneck. [url]http://gcaptain.com/mountain-of-aid-sitting-on-docks-in-storm-stricken-san-juan/[/url] It's slowly trickling out. [editline]28th September 2017[/editline] The real reason is probably not as sinister as people want it to be. [url]http://gcaptain.com/american-maritime-industry-fights-back-false-claims-regarding-jones-act-relief-efforts-puerto-rico/[/url] You can park all the Aid in the world on the ports of San Juan but it's not going to save a single person if it can't get where it's needed. Don't get me wrong, it's ultimately a good thing, but I don't it's going to have major impacts until they get some infrastructure back.[/QUOTE] Do you think the Army Corps of Engineers could do some good on the ground in PR?

[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;52727319]Do you think the Army Corps of Engineers could do some good on the ground in PR?[/QUOTE] Probably wouldn't hurt. If the roads are fucked, those boxes aren't leaving port. The key difference between Puerto Rico, Texas, and Florida is that Texas and Florida had massive amounts of out of state help. Since PR is an island this obviously isn't happening. They're basically stuck to fend for themselves. If we haven't already, we should activate a few thousand military troops to help. Containers also need trucks to get out of the port and labor to unstuff them. We need to load ships full of volunteers and heavy trucks. You could also unstuff them at port and use military helicopters to distribute. The key thing that is missing is manpower and equipment, from what little I've heard.

The Jones Act shouldn't even exist. It does so much damage to Puerto Rico's economy.

Suspended for 10 days when people were asking for it to be suspended for a year. It won't help for 10 days