By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

FROM an original estimate of $5.6 million, Tinian’s wastewater project is now projected to cost over $26 million, according to the island’s officials.
In a letter to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, Tinian officials said that when the study for the project was prepared, the consultant recommended an outfall system and a site different from what the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. recommended.
They said the change in the system and site resulted in an increase in the project’s cost.
Local officials said although the need for a wastewater system still exists, “the dynamics of the current local economy does not make the system feasible nor require such urgency in construction.”
They added, “In fact, since the proposed new hotel-casinos will be constructing their own wastewater processing systems, their projects are not contingent on the availability of a municipal wastewater system.”
Due to the increased cost and unavailability of funding, they said, “the project cannot commence at this time.”
Tinian leaders want the U.S. Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs to reprogram the project’s federal funds so they can be used for the island airport’s instrument landing system instead.
OIA said it is the governor who should make the request.
“With the current project estimates of $17 million for the first phase of the wastewater project and over $26 million for the entire project, it would take several years of earmarking the entire annual share of Tinian’s CIP funds to increase the currently earmarked funding of $11.1 million to a sufficient level for construction to begin,” the Tinian officials said in aletter to the governor.
They said it is best to use the funding for other priority projects like the instrument landing system.
They said they will replenish the funds through future federal capital improvement monies and revenues to be generated from the new casinos.
The Tinian officials are asking the governor to ask for the reprogramming of the wastewater project funds.