GTC received a failing mark from the Bureau of Environmental Health because the school has yet to rehabilitate three of its oldest facilities.
The Board of Education said GTC’s funds were reallocated to a Koblerville soccer field project by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
According to Reyes, “When the Board of Education submitted the list of projects for classroom repairs in 2008, it included $66,000 for GTC’s classroom repairs. [The governor’s office] prepared a reprogramming request totaling $1.2 million for the repair of classrooms for certain schools on Saipan, which included GTC, and [this was] submitted…to [the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs] for approval early last year. The $1.2 million reprogramming request was eventually approved by Interior.”
GTC’s Building B, F, and G are dilapidated facilities that have never been repaired in the past 30 years.
GTC acting principal Charlotte DLG. Camacho said the Northern Marianas Housing Corp., which handles federal Community Development Block Grants, earmarked $600,000 for the rehabilitation of the dilapidated buildings and $200,000 for collateral equipment.
Reyes said the governor believes that the soccer facility project complies with the requirements of the Community Development Block grants, while the classroom repairs can be funded by federal capital improvement project grants.
The governor, he added, recognizes the importance of a world class soccer facility which can help the CNMI economy by providing destination enhancement, attracting tourists and sports enthusiasts, and developing a sports tourism industry for the commonwealth.
Reyes said the governor will meet with the Camacho and will ask the Public School System to submit the plan for the repairs of the GTC classrooms.
If the $66,000 approved funding from CIP funds is inadequate, the governor will seek additional federal funding, Reyes said.
