The government’s failure to properly use these federal funds may prompt the U.S. Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs to take over in administering them, which GOP gubernatorial candidate Juan N. Babauta said will be a “usurpation” of local authority.
A federal report obtained by the Variety showed a continuous decrease — by more than $1 million a year — in CIP funds that the CNMI received from 2005 to 2008.
It is federal policy that if the CNMI government fails to use the awarded CIP funds, the commonwealth will get less and less every year.
The report indicated that the CNMI received $12.4 million when the competitive CIP allocation started in 2005.
When Benigno R. Fitial became governor in 2006, the CIP funding went down to $11.2 million.
It decreased to $10.6 million in FY 2007 and to $10.2 million in 2008.
From $11.3 million in FY 2009, the proposed CIP funding for FY 2010 is down to $10.9 million.
Because the CNMI government was only able to spend the same amount awarded annually, the unspent CIP funds balance swelled to $57 million.
The record showed that of the
$12.8 million in CIP fund which included the unspent amount from the previous year, the CNMI government spent only $11.1 million which resulted in an unused amount of $1.6 million.
The continuous accumulation of unspent CIP funds every year, Babauta said, is problematic.
This reflects the CNMI government’s failure to implement CIPs efficiently and promptly, the former governor noted.
The Kagman wastewater project, for example, was funded for the first time in 2000 but as of last month, its design had not been completed.
In December last year, OIA approved Fitial’s request to reprogram the unused $3.8 million in CIP funds for the Kagman sewer project to repair the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s Power Plant 1.
The Tinian airport terminal project, which received CIP funds in 2002, is still under construction.
The initial planning for the Rota landfill project has not started.
The lead agency that handles most of these CIPs, the Department of Public Works, said it needs more personnel to implement these projects.
The federal report noted the lack of direction due to constant change in priorities by different administrations.
It added that the lack of leadership and indifference of the current administration are compounding the problem.
Most government agencies lack proper structure or are disorganized in implementing a project which results in major delays, the report stated.
