By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

THE reimbursement agreement between the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration on the installation of an instrument landing system on Tinian is still on hold, pending the actual reprogramming of $3.5 million for the project, according to CPA Chairman Rex I. Palacios.
He said without a formal document stating that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs has approved the reprogramming of the $3.5 million from the federally funded Tinian wastewater project, the instrument landing system, or ILS, project will not move forward.
“CPA never terminated its effort to install an ILS on Tinian,” he said. “In fact we have the reimbursement agreement with the FAA as we will supervise the implementation…but it’s not yet signed — not because of CPA but because the Tinian (legislative) delegation has not provided us with the funding of $3.5 million,” Palacios told Variety on Friday.
He added that “what has to happen is the delegation prepares a legislative resolution to provide justification to OIA to allow the reprogramming of the wastewater funding for the ILS project.”
“That has not been done,” Palacios said. “The bottom line is the delegation has not made the money available for this project and that’s the only thing holding us back on ILS.”
In an interview yesterday, Keith Aughenbaugh, the federal capital improvement projects coordinator, said OIA is still waiting for the response of the CNMI government, specifically the Tinian legislative delegation, regarding the office’s inquiry in November last year. “The funds have not been reprogrammed. Back in November, we asked the CNMI government for clarification on the ILS project and asked what would happen to the wastewater project if OIA allowed the reprogramming from the fund. What’s the plan and how are they going to put it back?”
Palacios said CPA “cannot contract to build something if we don’t have the money. Anytime OIA approves the reprogramming of $3.5 million, CPA will go ahead and sign the agreement (with the FAA).”