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CPA offers to settle contractor’s claims
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Posted on Mar 18 1999
The Commonwealth Ports Authority is willing to settle the claims of Pacific Drilling Ltd., contractor of the sewer line project for only $352,784 which is way below the $1.9 million original amount demanded by the company.
In a letter sent to M.K. Rao, president of Pacific Drilling, Carlos H. Salas, executive director of CPA, said escalation and remobilization costs can be best resolved through a change order upon restart of the project.
The much-delayed sewer line project which will run from Saipan International Airport to Agingan Waste Water Treatment Plant will benefit some 1,000 households.
Since the suspension of the project in May 1998, the ports authority has been trying to resume work by seeking the assistance of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., in providing additional funds.
A memorandum of agreement was then signed by CPA and CUC which would have finally resolved the immediate completion of the project. Under the agreement, the utilities firm has agreed to shoulder 70.6 percent of the project cost amounting to $3.5 million while the remaining 30 percent will be charged to the operating and capital improvement costs of Saipan International Airport.
The Division of Environmental Quality has sought the immediate compeltion of the sewer line project because further delay may adversely affect the safety of the people’s health due to increasing bacterial contamination in ground water.
According to DEQ, the airport overlies one of the Saipan’s major ground water aquifers which provides a major portion of the island’s water supply. Recent sampling results fron nearby wells confirm the rise in nitrate concentrations toward maximum safe levels for human health as well as the presence of microbiological contaminants.
CPA board members have warned construction manager Efrain F. Camacho against incurring additional cost for the project due to the financial crisis besetting the ports authority.
