DUE TO ANOMALOUS LAND SURVEY Ex-DPW officials face legal action

The Office of the Public Auditor has recommended 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.
Public Auditor Leo LaMotte also instructed the
Department of Finance to initiate actions that would result in the recovery of $164,534 which were improperly made to Tinian Road Resurfacing Project contractor Castro & Associates.

According to the OPA report released yesterday, 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. OPA 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.

Mr. LaMotte said the contract was no more than a waste of public funds since the maps prepared by the land survey firm were never used and are now gathering dust in the DPW files.

The public auditor is asking the Attorney General’s Office to consider filing legal action against government officials who approved the contract with C&A, particularly the former Procurement and Supply director and the acting DPW Secretary.
Mr. LaMotte said the two former government officials approved C&A’s contract despite non-compliance with key provisions of the CNMI Procurement Regulations.

“Despite the CNMI-PR requirement for contract negotiations, responsible officials from DPW and P&S did not properly review C&A’s fee proposal prior to accepting and processing the land survey contract,” the OPA report said.
In his response dated March 29, 2000, Acting Attorney General Herb Soll said the OPA recommendation that actions be taken with the two officials for the recovery of public funds necessitates further inquiry.

“Certainly, this matter as presented to our office warrants further investigation on our part. Such investigation would include reviewing the criminal plea in the matter, as well as interviews with certain individuals that were involved in the contract,” Mr. Soll said.

At the same time, Finance Secretary Lucy Nielsen said Mr. LaMotte’s recommendation that DOF recover the funds should be coordinated with the Attorney General’s Office.

The public auditor report stressed the need to recover $164,534 from the land survey firm since they represent an excess over what C&A actually delivered under its contract.

At the same time, OPA investigations also yielded information that C&A bribed the former Tinian Mayor with a total of $14,000 in connection with the company getting the Tinian road survey contract.

OPA said C&A, later in 1997, agreed to pay the former Tinian Mayor another $7,000 if he could obtain a change order increasing the value of the land contract.

A change order was, however, never approved and the promised additional bribe was never paid, according to the public auditor’s April 13, 2000 report.

The land survey contract survey for TRRP was funded under Public Law 9-24 which appropriated the Covenant funds made available by the U.S. Congress for Fiscal Year 1994. The TRRP is the successor of an earlier road project known as the Tinian Village Road Improvement Project.