Speaking on behalf of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, who did not show up for the hearing in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Ada informed the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife about the challenges faced by the CNMI in implementing the technical assistance program.
He said although the program which is handled by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, is successful in the CNMI, there are some challenges that continue to hamper its effectiveness.
First, Ada said, is the lack of funding priorities and criteria.
He said the program has broad definitions, and the prioritization of activities is not done in any orderly fashion.
“As a result, it becomes a ‘catch-all; fund which results in projects that are completed and shelved or never completed at all,” Ada said.
The establishment of a clear criteria for the selection of projects should be made in order to effectively address the short-term and long-term needs of the islands, he added.
This will provide the CNMI with clear guidance on what projects should be submitted for funding, he said.
According to Ada, the disparity between data sets is a big frustration in the management of technical assistance funding.
“While the [U.S. Government Accountability Office] findings cited that 62 percent of issues arise out of weaknesses associated with the grant recipient, 14 percent of total weakness is derived from OIA grant management activities including discrepancies in grant management data. With advances in technology, the CNMI and OIA are in a position to develop an automated system that provides for streamlining of essential data,” Ada said.
The CNMI is in the process of developing a grant management reporting system to address many reports mandated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he added.
As a result of technical assistance funding, Commerce is in the final stages of a web-based application that will allow federal grantors to access real-time data inclusive of job creation, expenditures, obligations, fund balances, and project progress, he said.
This system will allow grantors to view the grantee data on a real-time basis, allowing for reconciliation of data on a regular basis, he added.
It also provides flexibility for all parties to address any inconsistency that are found during the reporting period, he said.
