“We are doing the best we can and we are hoping to tie up all ends,” Tenorio said in a recent interview.
He added that they are in the middle of complying with the federal requirements based on the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Justice.
“We are fixing the things we need to fix — from catering services, generator, reverse osmosis, air-conditioning, screens of computers and all other issues,” he said.
In an earlier interview, Assistant Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham, the CNMI’s consent decree coordinator, said the commonwealth has worked very hard for several years to improve its correctional facilities.
In September last year, a three-man team from the U.S. Department of Justice visited the correctional facilities on Saipan, Tinian and Rota and came up with several recommendations that will terminate the consent decree.
The federal government earlier sued the CNMI for not meeting certain standards and safety in the operation of its criminal justice system.
Instead of going to trial, the Justice Department and the commonwealth agreed to implement the consent decree to improve the conditions of the local correctional facilities on the three main islands of the CNMI.
The consent decree, which governs operations for the adults and juveniles in the custody of the commonwealth, took effect in 1999.
Buckingham has been the consent decree coordinator since March 2003.
