The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration office in Kissimmee is closed for business due to a rat infestation.
Organizers running the office in Washington, D.C., said the office has been closed eight business days and that boxes of food collected for Puerto Rico hurricane relief could be contaminated.
The sign on the office on South Orlando Street says employees are out at meetings, but Channel 9 found out they were working from home Tuesday due to safety concerns.
“These goods here are wasting and right now you have people in Puerto Rico starving because of the current crisis, and there's no excuse for this whatsoever,” said Hector Rodriguez, who was once the community officer for the office.
The office has a budget of about $200,000 a year and two full-time employees.
Organizers in charge of the facilities working in Washington, D.C., said that work is being done when people in need call the number listed on the door.
They could not explain why the sign says it's closed for meetings but did confirm there is a rat infestation.
People in search of assistance must call the number on the door to speak to the employees.
Rodriguez is concerned that with the doors closed, the services provided may not be adequate.
“They are collecting money from government of Puerto Rico and there's no service being provided to the community,” he said.
Beyond that, there are many boxes of donated food that were earmarked for Puerto Rico that may go to waste.
The donations were delivered in September, but the office could not afford to send the food to Puerto Rico.
The new plan was to distribute it to evacuees now living in Florida, but with a rat infestation, that may not be an option.
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