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Teno: ‘Where is our Compact money?’
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Posted on Nov 10 1999
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday made another appeal to the federal government to reimburse the CNMI the expenditures it has incurred from providing essential public services to Freely Associated States citizens on the island.
The Commonwealth so far has yet to receive a definite action on what Washington wants to do on the millions of dollars spent by the island government for FAS nationals residing here.
CNMI has forwarded to federal officials about $28 million in estimated cost for hosting citizens of FSM, Palau and Marshalls over the past two years, who have benefited from free housing, education and medical care provided by local departments and agencies.
“We haven’t heard from them, (although) we did submit the actual costs that we have provided to Micronesian people,” Tenorio told reporters.
“We keep asking (federal officials) to please consider and provide us the money as required by the Compact,” added the governor.
The Compact agreement, forged in 1986, has allowed citizens from neighboring islands to enter freely into any U.S. soil.
But the accord, due to expire in 2001 year for FSM and the Marshalls, has come under close scrutiny from wealthier Pacific islands like Guam, Hawaii and the CNMI after the federal government reneged on its commitment to defray the costs.
Office of Insular Affairs Director Ferdinand Aranza last month told reporters that while Guam is expected to receive reimbursement from Washington, the Clinton Administration does not have immediate plan to meet it obligations to the CNMI.
The FAS migration into the Northern Marianas has been a major concern of the local government in the wake of financial woes besetting the islands for the last two years.
Meanwhile, Tenorio declined to comment on the plan by President Clinton to veto an appropriations bill for insular areas, saying only that he hopes positive action on measure that is up for voting in Congress.
