Fitial, who left the island on Aug. 14 to attend an energy fair in Fairbanks, Alaska, also went to San Diego, California where he met with regional officials of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan, in an interview yesterday, said the governor was “touching base” on the budget issues facing the department.
In light of the longstanding debate on the national budget, compounded by the heated discussions about the debt ceiling, the governor was told that many federal programs have started to come up with contingency plans to brace for budget cuts, “at any given time,” Demapan said.
Some agencies, like the Federal Aviation Administration, have implemented partial shutdowns.
Demapan said the CNMI has a lot of programs funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The governor was basically…seeing what kind of preparations could be made. Everyone is taking precautions,” he said.
“Therefore, it is important that states and territories are adequately prepared and properly informed in the event that there will be any changes to existing federally funded programs,” he added.
Demapan said the governor also met with an investor in San Diego, who is interested in the CNMI’s renewable energy potential.
As one of the guest speakers at the Alaska energy fair last week, Fitial discussed the CNMI’s potential for wind, photo-voltaic, waste-to-energy and geothermal energy generation.
