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MVA to give financial support to FestPac delegation
The board of directors of the Marianas Visitors Authority has approved financial support for this year’s CNMI delegate to the Festival of the Pacific, which will be held in Guam in May.
In a board meeting last Friday, the board and management discussed the request from the FestPac committee.
“They’re requesting $50,000 from MVA to help defray the cost,” MVA managing director Perry Tenorio said.
Among the discussions of the board is the need for further information on the requested budget.
While the board approved providing support, they wanted to get the number of delegates from each island, what types of art they are bringing with them, as well as actual breakdown of the cost.
They also wanted to know if chartering a flight from Saipan to Guam is more feasible and cheaper than booking different flights.
“As much information as they can give us, it would help tremendously,” board chair Marian Aldan-Pierce said.
The board also added that they want accounting of the funds that will be used.
“And also we want an accounting of the funds at the end of the trip because too often we get asked for funds but we don’t really see anything how the money was spent,” Aldan-Pierce said.
After the discussions, the board voted unanimously to provide support.
“No check will be given to them unless we get the information that we want to see,” Aldan-Pierce said, “The final approval still needs to come from the board.”
“We’re approving, in principal, support, pending additional information the board requested,” Tenorio said.
According to the FestPac committee, they will need $180,000 for the delegation this year which will be comprised of 250 delegates from the CNMI, the largest number ever to join the festival otherwise known as the “Olympics of the Pacific Arts.”
