In connection with the construction and maintenance of such local parks, the Sports and Recreation Department shall have the following faculties, powers, and duties:
(a) To construct, maintain, organize, direct, regulate, and control the same, including the development of such activities as befit such parks.
(b) To appoint for each community a Civic Committee on Recreational Facilities, in order to request the cooperation and financial assistance of residents who will benefit from the construction of the local park; Provided, That no compensation whatever shall be paid for the services rendered by such committees, their work being considered a civic duty to the community.
(c) To prepare an estimate of the cost and submit it to the Committee. The Administration shall at the same time inform the Committee about the share or shares of the work that the Sports and Recreation Department may deem it advisable to carry out from its own funds, and the share thereof whose cost or construction would correspond to the community through the activities of the Committee.
(d) Not to expend any sum from the amount appropriated by §§ 12—14 of this title, unless the share apportioned to the Committee by the Department is made available by the former.
(e) On the initiative of any of the parties, similar arrangements may be made between the Sports and Recreation Department and the Civil Committee on Recreational Facilities, for financing the annual maintenance of such local parks, as well as for the organization, regulation, and control of the said parks; Provided, That neither the appropriation herein authorized nor the funds credited to the restricted revenue account, shall be used to finance the maintenance, organization, regulation, and control of such parks, the Department being hereby authorized to use for such purposes any other funds at its disposal to which such expenses may be lawfully charged.
(f) To accept, in behalf of the Commonwealth Government, any donation, gift, or contribution made by public or private institutions and by natural or [juridical] persons, to assist in the construction and/or maintenance of the said local parks.
(g) To deliver to the Secretary of the Treasury, and render to him an account of, the donations made, as soon as they are received by the Department.
(h) To acquire material and equipment in order to carry out the purposes hereof.
(i) To enter into agreements with federal, Commonwealth, or municipal agencies, for the effectuation of the construction works, the labor, and other activities connected with such parks, in cooperation therewith.
(j) To sponsor educational campaigns aimed at improving and increasing the facilities for exercise, recreation, and solace in such parks, as well as to arouse the enthusiasm and interest of the people in the best operation and maintenance of such parks.
(k) To adopt such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary or advisable for the enforcement of §§ 12—14 of this title.
(l) To render an annual report to the Governor of Puerto Rico on the activities carried out and the expenditures made in connection with §§ 12—14 of this title, including such recommendations as the Department may deem proper and necessary, so as to provide for the people the facilities inherent in such local parks. Such report may be a part of the annual report now rendered by the Department.
History —May 14, 1948, No. 193, p. 544, § 3.