OPA TELLS GOV’T: Fight corruption

The CNMI government needs extra effort to fight graft and corruption in public service which Public Auditor Leo LaMotte said is quite rampant in the Northern Marianas and should be addressed immediately.

“The level of corruption in the Northern Marianas is quite intolerable although there is as much corruption in the CNMI as there is in other countries throughout the world,” Mr. LaMotte said in an interview yesterday.

“People are the same all over the world, they all pursue their own self interest and that’s where corruption begins,” he said, adding that the level of corruption in the CNMI is slowly taking its toll on the government’s resources and trustworthiness.

He also stressed that any point of corruption, as it is in the Northern Marianas, can never be considered manageable. “There must be a strong commitment to be able to completely eliminate malpractice in government.”

Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption organization, previously mentioned that there appears to be an alarming problem on corruption among island-states in the Pacific Region.

Transparency International has national chapters in over 70 countries throughout the world and is the leading global movement for just and honest government.

The group, however, does not have national chapters in the small island states in the Pacific as it noted that Transparency International helps only those who recognize that they need assistance and are capable of receiving it.

According to Mr. LaMotte, the series of audit reports and investigations OPA has unraveled in recent years are proof to the existence of widespread corruption in the Commonwealth government.

He mentioned as an example the road project on Tinian where OPA has to recommend the filing of legal action against two former officials of the Department of Public Works for approving an allegedly anomalous land survey contract with a private company in 1997.

Mr. LaMotte said the awarding of the land survey contract to C&A should have not taken place since the road paving contractor — Hawaiian Rock Products Corporation — had already included in its proposal the needed survey work for only $8,339.

C&A got the TRRP contract from the public works department for $229,438. He said the contract price was based on a grossly inflated fee proposal which contained excessive work hours and mobilization costs improperly charged to the government.

He also cited the increase in the number of delinquent recommendations issued by the OPA which soared 18 percent to 181 in 1999 from the previous year’s 153, indicating several government agencies’ apparent neglect in taking prompt action to address financial loopholes.

The Department of Finance failed to take action on at least 50 recommendations issued by the OPA in its 18 audit investigation reports for the agency in 1999, while the Department of Public Safety failed to address 11 loopholes identified by the Public Auditor in its report.

The Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Department of Lands and Natural Resources are still to act on 10 recommendations each by the OPA. OPA conducted five audit investigations for CPA and three for the DLNR last year.

In a year-end report, Mr. LaMotte explained that 19 of the 76 audit recommendations issued by the OPA in 1998 became delinquent last year which contributed to the increase in the number of derelict recommendations in 1999.

This does not include the nine new recommendations issued by the Public Auditor in 1999, with which government agencies failed to take action on.

The public auditor issued 14 audit reports in 1999 to various CNMI government agencies, 13 of which resulted to a total of 28 recommendations.

This is in addition to the 284 outstanding recommendations at the beginning of the year, making a total of 312 recommendations tracked for the year.

Of the 312 audit recommendations, 118 were closed and 194 remained either open or resolved. Of the 194 open or resolved recommendations, 181 were considered delinquent.