<sod>After years of inactivity, Edwin Rivera Sierra, mayor of the municipality of [[Cataño, Puerto Rico|Cataño]] in [[Puerto Rico]] decided to acquire the monument in 1998. Despite being donated by the Tsereteli, the cost of importing the statue ascended to 2.4 million dollars, all of which were taken from the public treasury with the approval of governor [[Pedro Rosselló]].<ref>[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44660249/ns/world_news-americas/t/columbus-statue-runs-aground-puerto-rico/]</ref> Rivera Sierra insisted that the municipal treasure would not lose a single cent for the project and planned to erect the monument near the entrance of the Cataño Bay, with the unassembled pieces of the statue being relocated to an adjacent recreational park upon arriving on November 12, 1998. In its original plan, construction would have begun in 1999, with the dedication taking place in October 2000. However, the project raised immediate controversy. The size of the monument implied that several residences would have to be expropriated to make way for it. The cost of its assembly was also deemed excessive, with only the statue's base being  estimated to be worth around 150 million dollars. The ''Oficina del Contralor'', an independent auditor that supervises the use of public funds by political institutions, opened an investigation regarding the transaction. The functionary determined that when being imported the statue failed to pay 1.6 million dollars in taxes upon entering port, and inquired the [[Puerto Rico Department of Treasury]]'s Port Control Bureau to determine if it had been misclassified. The auditor also investigated the use of public funds to cover the travel expenses of Rivera Sierra when personally meeting Tseretelli in Russia. <eod>
<sod>After years of inactivity, Edwin Rivera Sierra, mayor of the municipality of [[Cataño, Puerto Rico|Cataño]] in [[Puerto Rico]] decided to acquire the monument in 1998. Despite being donated by  Tsereteli, the cost of importing the statue ascended to 2.4 million dollars, all of which were taken from the public treasury with the approval of governor [[Pedro Rosselló]].<ref>[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44660249/ns/world_news-americas/t/columbus-statue-runs-aground-puerto-rico/]</ref> Rivera Sierra insisted that the municipal treasure would not lose a single cent for the project and planned to erect the monument near the entrance of the Cataño Bay, with the unassembled pieces of the statue being relocated to an adjacent recreational park upon arriving on November 12, 1998. In its original plan, construction would have begun in 1999, with the dedication taking place in October 2000. However, the project raised immediate controversy. The size of the monument implied that several residences would have to be expropriated to make way for it. The cost of its assembly was also deemed excessive, with only the statue's base being  estimated to be worth around 150 million dollars. The ''Oficina del Contralor'', an independent auditor that supervises the use of public funds by political institutions, opened an investigation regarding the transaction. The functionary determined that when being imported the statue failed to pay 1.6 million dollars in taxes upon entering port, and inquired the [[Puerto Rico Department of Treasury]]'s Port Control Bureau to determine if it had been misclassified. The auditor also investigated the use of public funds to cover the travel expenses of Rivera Sierra when personally meeting Tseretelli in Russia. <eod>