Babauta said there are “tremendous” things going on with the federal budget which will affect the Office of Insular Affairs’ programs and operations.
Everybody now should expect less, he added.
There is a clear message in Washington D.C. that the federal government budget is going to be reduced “so we are all preparing to try to be even smarter with our resources,” he said.
Babauta said his office will try to make sure that the cuts won’t gravely impact the services OIA provides to the insular areas.
Some of the CNMI’s 33 CIP’s worth $37.5 million are long standing projects that have yet to be completed. One is the Puerto Rico dump closure which received $13.1 million in FY 2012 funding.
There are also a number of CIP’s on Rota and Tinian that have yet to be completed.
The causes of the delay included changes in design, lack of compliance with federal standards and protests filed by losing bidders.
Last week, Babauta visited Tinian and discussed with the leaders there the ongoing CIP’s.
The Tinian leaders mentioned the projects they want prioritized for the $2.8 million in “leftover” CIP funds.
Babauta was on Rota yesterday to discuss its pending CIP’s with the island leaders.
The CNMI’s CIP office, in its status report and expenditure projections submitted six months ago to the Senate, noted an “unprecedented” increase in CIP project implementation.
After projecting a 43 percent spending of CIP-Section 702 funds in fiscal year 2011, the CIP office expected $17.7 million in expenditures for fiscal year 2012.
The Fitial administration said it is aware of the looming cuts in future CIP funds.
In an interview yesterday, Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan said any decrease in federal funding will have a significant impact on the commonwealth and other territories.
“We will have to make the necessary adjustments on our part,” he added.
