Babauta along with Office of Insular Affairs Director Nikolao Pula and field representative Jeff Schorr attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Puerto Rico transmission and distribution waterline project.
The $344,000 project funded by Interior will serve 7,000 customers in the Puerto Rico and Garapan areas.
Babauta appreciated the Water Task Force in collaborating with the CNMI government to ensure that federal funds are spent properly.
He said he wants to ensure that water development projects “occur under my watch.”
With sufficient and consistent supply of water, Babauta believes it will help the island attract businesses to invest.
Babauta also appreciated the leadership of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos for making water system development as one of the CNMI’s priority programs.
Inos, for his part, thanked Interior for its continued support.
He said water remains a major challenge on island.
In an interview, Kay Delafield of the Water Task Force said the project is not among the requirements of the federal stipulated orders, but it will help the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. achieve its goals.
“The overall goal is to get CUC water system and program up to [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] standards,” she said.
Besides getting 24 hours water, she said they want water coming from wells treated.
CUC acting division manager for water and wastewater Travis Speath said the project gives CUC more flexibility while providing more water hours to its customers.
CNMI Water Task Force program manager Pete Sasamoto said AIC Marianas was the project contractor.
