During the public hearing, acting Public Health Secretary Pete Untalan also disclosed that the federal certification of the reverse osmosis water system for the new dialysis center was forged.
“I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that,” Committee Chairman Ray N. Yumul said in an interview. “This is very serious. Will this require additional funds? Can we get relief from the contractor who subcontracted this [project]? Perhaps this requires an oversight investigation. We need to know if we can recover the funds spent on the project, which is federally funded. We may ask the feds to assist.”
AIC Marianas was the main contractor for the $22 million center, which has yet to open three years after its construction.
AIC’s subcontractor, Saipan Ice, got the reverse osmosis system unit from the Pennsylvania-based Severn Trent Services which, earlier, had to replace the defective water meters it provided to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
Confusing
When asked why there was an $11 million discrepancy between the governor and the department’s budget proposal, Public Health’s Esther Muna said they were instructed by the Office of Management and Budget to leave certain items, like utilities and employee benefits, blank.
“Public Health is a priority agency,” said Yumul, R-Saipan. “We’re trying to give them what they need, but it is very confusing — if it’s one or two million, it’s probably understandable, but a difference of $11 million?”
Yumul said the governor’s budget proposal for another critical agency, the Department of Public Safety, was also less than what DPS requested.
“It is difficult to work on a budget with these huge gaps — it has come to the point that I do not want to look at the governor’s submission anymore. It’s better to go directly to the departments and agencies, and ask them what they need.”
It also “bothered” the committee to learn about OMB’s instruction to Public Health.
“They’re supposed to be working together, but it sounded like it was a direct order from OMB,” Yumul said.
Rep. Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, said the discrepancy may be over $15 million “if we factor everything in and include the items they were told not to include,” referring to Public Health’s budget proposal.
“It’s just beyond comprehension,” she added.
Yumul said he and his colleagues will try to pass a workable and balanced budget for FY 2010, which starts on Oct. 1.
“That’s our duty, to pass a budget. Of course it’s also a gubernatorial election year, but if the administration feels this is just a game, then that saddens me. We have to take this issue seriously. This is a very serious issue. We have to stop deficit spending. Instead of overspending we need to pay what we owe the Retirement Fund.”
