Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said Commerce’s Central Statistics Division will conduct the survey in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Compact of Free Association, or COFA, survey will start tomorrow on Saipan.
“The purpose of the survey is to determine the latest total of Freely Associated State citizens who currently reside in the CNMI, which will be used to determine future Compact-Impact funding for the CNMI,” said Reyes.
“The general public is asked to assist the COFA enumerators who may visit their homes in the upcoming weeks. The public’s cooperation in this endeavor will be greatly appreciated, and the Department of Commerce thanks the public in advance for such cooperation and support,” he added.
Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia — Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap — comprise the FAS.
Every year, the CNMI and other U.S. territories are partly reimbursed for their expenses in hosting the FAS migrants and their families.
Since 2005, the CNMI has been getting more than $5.1 million in annual reimbursements but local authorities believe this is below what the commonwealth government actually spends to accommodate the FAS migrants.
