Fitial noted that Ricondo Associates, the Commonwealth Ports Authority’s airport bond consultant, made the same rate hike recommendation in its 2006 report.
“But the previous board did not take any action,” he told reporters during a ceremony at the airport yesterday.
Ricondo’s 2006 report indicated that raising the fees and terminating the airline incentive program would prevent bond problems in the future.
The board terminated the incentive program early this year.
Yesterday, Fitial said he supports the new CPA board’s efforts to address the agency’s financial crisis.
He earlier declared a state of emergency for CPA due to concerns about its airport and seaport bond indenture agreements.
BST Associates, CPA’s seaport bond consultant, met with the governor on Wednesday.
BST will prepare a study for seaport activities that will be CPA’s basis for its rate increases.
CPA currently collects a $6 wharfage fee.
Last month, Ricondo submitted a study to the board proposing new rates.
CPA Chairman Jose Lifoifoi said the study will be reviewed by the board, which will also consult the agency’s stakeholders, before implementing the new rates.
According to the governor, CPA’s revenues in the last fiscal year dropped by 60 percent.
“We have a financial crisis right now at CPA because we lost virtually all the outbound shipments due to the closure of the garment industry,” he said.
Local garment factories have been shutting down and moving to Third World nations since 2005, following the liberalization of trade rules that allow countries with cheaper labor costs to export their apparel to the U.S.
