GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Monday issued Directive No. 2023-004 to transfer the Infrastructure and Recovery Program to the Office of Capital Improvement Plans under the Office of Planning and Development.
Created by then-Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, through Directive No. 2021-005, the IRP assists other departments and agencies in meeting permitting requirements for infrastructure projects.
In his directive, Palacios said the functions of IRP are similar and complementary to the functions of OPD’s capital improvement plans division. Transferring IRP to the CIP office would streamline the process of administering the CNMI government’s various infrastructure projects, Palacios said.
The acting OPD director is Christopher A. Concepcion who will soon return to his previous job as the Marianas Visitors Authority managing director.
With IRP’s transfer to OPD, its CIP division will now have two units: CIP, which primarily administers infrastructure projects funded by grants from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs and Federal Emergency Management Agency; and the IRP, which provides technical assistance services for various federally and locally funded infrastructure projects approved by the OPD director and designated by the governor.
The governor’s directive requires the respective staff of the CIP and IRP units to provide assistance to each other as necessary to include technical services and coordination; and extend their full cooperation to ensure mutually beneficial support in accomplishing assigned tasks and projects for the CNMI government in a timely manner.
The IRP unit, with the approval of the OPD director, may continue to provide technical assistance services for the projects of IRP that were initiated prior to the issuance of the directive.
