After Hurricane Maria damaged tens of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico, a newly created Florida company with an unproven record won more than $30m in contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency tarps and plastic sheeting for repairs.

Bronze Star LLC never delivered those urgently needed supplies, which even months later remain in demand by hurricane victims on the island.

According to an exclusive Associated Press report, Fema eventually terminated the contracts, without paying any money, and re-started the process this month to supply more tarps for the island.

The earlier effort took nearly four weeks from the day Fema awarded the contracts to Bronze Star and the day it canceled them.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans remain homeless, and many complain that the federal government is taking too long to install tarps. The US territory has been hit by severe rainstorms in recent weeks that have caused widespread flooding.

It is not clear how thoroughly Fema investigated Bronze Star or its ability to fulfill the contracts. Formed by two brothers in August, Bronze Star had never before won a government contract or delivered tarps or plastic sheeting. The address listed for the business is a single-family home in a residential subdivision in St Cloud, Florida.

One of the brothers, Kayon Jones, said manufacturers he contacted before bidding on the contracts assured him they could provide the tarps but later said they could not meet the government’s requirements.

Fema canceled the contracts on 6 November, Jones said. The government

notified him and his brother a few days later that it would seek $9.3mi in damages unless they signed a waiver releasing the US from any liability. The brothers agreed.

“We were trying to help; it wasn’t about making money or anything like that,” Jones said.

Fema awarded the company two contracts 10 October to provide 500,000 tarps and 60,000 rolls of plastic sheeting.

“The award of a government contract to a company with absolutely no experience in producing the materials sought obviously raises very bright red flags,” said Dan Feldman, a professor at John Jay College in New York.

A Fema spokesman, Ron Roth, said the agency’s review process was “somewhat expedited” after Hurricane Maria to respond as quickly as possible to the emergency. But he said the agency did perform its due diligence.

“Submissions from potential contractors are objectively evaluated, and a contract is awarded based on the highest-rated submission,” Roth said.

Kayon Jones, the co-owner of Bronze Star, served in the US Navy. The contract solicitation gave preference to veteran-owned companies.

In an interview, Jones said his brother, who is also listed on state incorporation documents for the business, served in the army and is disabled.

The day after Fema canceled the Bronze Star contract, it awarded a contract to OSC Solutions Inc for plastic sheeting for Hurricane Maria victims. The West Palm Beach, Florida-based company has roughly two decades of federal contracting experience and has produced such supplies multiple times.

The Fema spokesman, Roth, acknowledged the contract problems delayed

delivery of tarps to Puerto Rico but said anyone who needs a tarp

should now be able to get one.









