Cing asks U.S. lawmakers to block funds cut

Tinian Sen. David Cing prodded members of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a measure that will waive the matching requirement for federal funds under the capital improvement projects, saying current White House’s proposal to cut the assistance will hamper development here.

“I urge you to immediately enact legislation waiving the matching requirement now imposed on us in order to qualify for any CIP federal funds,” he said in a speech Friday during the visit to Tinian of key House Resources Committee members and staffers.

Committee chair Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) failed to join the delegation on its tour of Tinian as part of their three-day visit to the CNMI. The congressional team left Saturday for the Marshall Islands to continue its tour of Micronesian region.

During their Tinian visit, they toured the Voice of America relay station, the Atomic Bomb Pit, the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, the harbor break water as well as federal leased land and ancient Latte stones.

According to Cing, the visit allowed a first-hand look at the conditions of Tinian now whose hopes for economic development through the casino industry have been dashed by the prolonged recession in Asia, NMI’s main tourism market.

“With rapid speed, we watched the tourists disappear and with them their dollars,” the senator said, adding that town officials are working closely with the local business community to deal with the worsening situation.

Cing, however, warned against the proposed slash in CIP funding for next fiscal year, saying Tinian “will be severely hampered” in improving aging infrastructure such as the breakwater at the harbor that was built by the U.S. military during World War Two.

The proposal came on the heels of efforts by the CNMI government to source local funds to match Washington’s aid which is viewed by local leaders as their last hope for economic recovery.

Some $154 million in massive infrastructure development projects have been planned by the island government on Saipan, Tinian and Rota between now and 2002 to spur its economy.

But the Clinton administration has proposed to the Congress a 51 percent cut from annual assistance of about $11 million to the CNMI due to its failure to match them dollar-for-dollar — a condition found stringent by island leaders at this time of economic slowdown.

“We need assistance, monetary and political, to achieve our full potential,” Cing told members of the House Resource Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Northern Marianas and other insular areas.

“Punitive measures, such as cutting CIP funding, will not provide the desired results but will hamper our drive to reform,” added the Tinian lawmaker.