Atalig made the request two months after U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Douglas W. Domenech announced that the Office of Insular Affairs had redirected $216,370 in Maintenance Assistance Program prior-year grant funding to purchase a rock crusher for the Rota quarry.
In his May 26 letter to acting Procurement & Supply Director Francisco Aguon, the Rota mayor said, “I am writing to your good office my justification for opening a sole-source contract for a rock crusher for the Rota quarry.”
According to the mayor, “The absence of a functioning quarry on Rota for the last five years has hindered infrastructure development for all government, business, and private citizens who are planning to develop their infrastructure on Rota.”
Atalig said Rota has over 10 major federal projects that are due for construction, but his office would not be able to move forward with any of them unless the island procures a “functioning” rock crusher for the Rota quarry.
“My staff and I have looked into other construction projects that were done recently on Rota and based on the data we have, it would cost more to bring in quarry materials from off-island than to have a functioning quarry on Rota,” Atalig said.
“My intention is to partner the municipality [of] Rota with a locally sourced company on Rota [that] already has a quarry and the specialized equipment to produce and sell value quarry materials,” the mayor added.
The redirected $216,370 Maintenance Assistance Program funding was initially granted by OIA to Rota for the procurement of a 40-ton hydraulic shipyard pedestal crane, but the mayor and other members of Rota leadership requested OIA to allow them to buy a rock crusher instead.
