WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. agency responsible for disaster response hired a contractor that failed to deliver millions of emergency meals in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico last year, U.S. Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee cited records that showed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded a nearly $156 million contract to a one-person company that delivered just 50,000 of the expected 30 million meals. Puerto Rico is struggling to recover from its worst natural disaster in 90 years and the largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history, with some $120 billion of combined bond and pension debt. After winning the October 2017 FEMA contract, Tribute delivered just 50,000 meals to the U.S. territory and was terminated for cause 20 days later, said Representative Elijah Cummings, the committee’s top Democrat. Cummings and fellow Democrat Stacey Plaskett called on the panel’s Republican chairman, Trey Gowdy, to subpoena FEMA for documents on the company and its alleged failure to deliver millions of meals.

Source: Huffington Post February 06, 2018 20:37 UTC