MPLT releases full loan to hospital

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. transferred yesterday to its account not only the scheduled $500,000 drawdown from the Marianas Public Land Trust but the full balance of its loan amounting to $2 million.

Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Juan N. Babauta said that MPLT board chair Pedro Guerrero wrote the check directly to the corporation late Wednesday and the amount was deposited yesterday into the organization’s account.

The direct turnover of the check from MPLT to the corporation bypasses the process of having the money coursed through the Department of Finance, as was required in the memorandum of agreement for the loan. The move also allowed the corporation to leapfrog over Attorney General Edward Buckingham, who has allegedly been blocking further drawdowns on the loan due to more documents he was requiring Babauta to submit.

“The [memorandum of agreement] is just that. If I should be held in violation of it, I will take responsibility! Yes, it [transaction] is an inter-agency one and that’s how the money was transferred to us,” Babauta told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

The delay in the release of the scheduled $500,000 drawdown resulted in an emergency meeting Tuesday night at CHC, with MPLT officials in attendance.

Babauta said it was at that meeting that the MPLT trustees decided to “directly” provide the loan to the corporation.

According to Babauta, he understands the government’s desire to account for all monies that go to the corporation but pointed out that having a clear expenditure plan, audit reports, and regular monitoring will allow the corporation to account for every penny it gets.

“I don’t understand why it should go from MPLT to Finance and then to the corporation. That is such a bureaucratic process. It could easily have gone from MPLT to CHC and that’s it,” said Babauta.

Babauta said the payroll for all employees on three islands will be released today, including a one-month housing allowance for those who were hired from off-island. Due to the lack of budget, the housing perks have been delayed for five months.

Alvaro Santos, the corporation’s chief financial officer, said the payroll cost today is $850,000, including personnel allotments. The housing allowance amounts to $134,000 this payroll.

Santos said it is the corporation’s aim to pay all the delayed allotments and housing allowances, little by little, until all obligations are satisfied.

The corporation’s personnel cost amounts to $1.7 million a month.

Santos said that obligation to various vendors, now amounting to over $5 million, will also be paid, bit by bit, until everything is settled.

The delays in salaries and late remittance of personnel allotments has prompted a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, which is ongoing.