THE 17th Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council failed to comply with CNMI procurement regulations when it entered into a contract for short-term vehicle rental.
Two letters from the Division of Procurement Services, dated July 18, 2023, and Sept. 1, 2023, to Council Chairwoman Marian DLG Tudela stated that the council must adhere to the procurement regulations.
The two other council members are Antonia Manibusan Tudela and Carmen Cabrera Pangelinan.
Pangelinan on Saturday told Variety that a contract was prepared for a short-term vehicle rental, “but our consultant, Mr. William Torres, did not wait for that approval of funds from Finance, and he went ahead and had the car issued to us, that was the violation. When the violation letter came out, I noticed that no one was moving to process it. Finance needed to certify the funds prior to the cars being released,” Pangelinan added.
She said three vehicles were issued by Joeten Motors for the three council members in May 2023.
Pangelinan returned the vehicle assigned to her on Sept. 20, 2023.
“I felt it was wrong to continue holding on to the vehicle, because there was no payment made, and there was no contract. The contract for the vehicles should have been routed to the Attorney General’s office, the Department of Finance, and the Procurement office,” Pangelinan added.
The letter from Procurement dated July 18, 2023, stated, among other things, “Only under very limited circumstances may the Government engage in rental of a vehicle for a public purpose. Additionally, if the expense was not routed through the proper procurement channels, it can be argued that the current expenses for this particular procurement fall within the realm of a ratification, requiring the Council to address NMIAC 70-30.3-415, [regarding the] ratification of unauthorized commitments.”
The other letter dated Sept.1, 2023, stated, “The vehicles were rented without a valid contract and are classified as unauthorized commitments and are in direct violations of the procurement regulations. We respectfully request that you initiate a request for ratification concerning the services that were administered without a formal contract.”
Variety also learned from another source that the council has hired another consultant, who has full-time employment with the government. “The Office of the Public Auditor should look into that,” the source said.
Variety was unable to get a comment from the other council members or their consultant.
