Senate grills DPW officials • Department probed for alleged mismanagement of millions of federal highway funds

The Department of Public Works will be short of eight more engineers within the next year, which could worsen problems over handling of the $3.2 million in annual grants from the Federal Highway Administration, according to officials.

DPW officials were grilled by the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee yesterday at the start of the oversight hearing into alleged mismanagement and inefficiency by the department in administering the federal aid.

Senators expressed concern on the limited staff and expertise hired for the department’s Technical Services Division which has the responsibility to ensure that the funding is properly spent and documented.

Dismayed over critical review by FHA officials on DPW’s performance, they warned that failure to address the federal concerns will deprive the CNMI of badly-needed money for its various road projects on the islands.

Abraham Wong, administrator of FHA Hawaii division, cited staff shortage, especially engineers and professionals, within TSD as one concern of the federal agency because of its effects on the Commonwealth’s compliance with program requirements.

But Andrew W. Smith, director of TSD, maintained their hands are tied as to hiring the right people to oversee the federal highway program because of the restrictions against recruiting nonresident engineers, particularly from the Philippines, and the high costs involved in attracting experts from the U.S. mainland.

DPW will be losing eight Filipino engineers soon as the law exempting the department from restrictions against hiring nonresidents is scheduled to end by September this year which he said could present more problems in dealing with the FHA program.

“It’s going to be a lot worse,” Mr. Smith said. “Recruiting from the States is going to cost us double than hiring Filipinos whether recruited locally or out of the Philippines. The salary is going to be much higher.”

He acknowledged, however, that employing these staff is just one solution to the problem as he noted that training of their people is essential component in ensuring that the CNMI complies with the federal requirements. “We do need more people,” he said.

Support

The Senate committee threw its support to proposal to hire more experts for the division, even additional budget from the island government, in order to meet the conditions set by FHA for construction projects funded by the yearly federal assistance.

Mr. Wong, in an earlier letter to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, said the agency considers TSD “a high risk management agency” which has a “high potential for loss of federal funds.” He also called for close oversight of all program areas.

“We are not really going to lose the money but we are in jeopardy of not documenting properly,” explained Mr. Smith. “This is a long term problem we’ve got to work out and I don’t have a quick answer.”

For now, he said, concerns raised by FHA can be addressed by hiring new people, bringing in younger people to hire them for longer term employment and hiring consultants to fill in the short-term projects.

On accusations of mismanagement, the TSD director defended the department as he cited the several limitations confronting them, including the law that was enacted two years ago and the whole process of recruiting staff.

“It’s a harsh word but it’s not untrue in terms of [criticism that] we don’t do a good job as we could. But we have to remember the limitations we’ve got on budget and personnel. I will be breaking the law if somebody works tomorrow and paperwork just follows,” said Mr. Smith who has been with TSD for the last five years.

Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, who headed the committee on behalf of Fiscal Affairs chair Sen. Edward U. Maratita who is off-island, underscored the need to come with immediate solutions to the problem in order not to lose the federal grants.

“We are trying to determine where the problem is. If this Legislature can help the department short of rolling up our sleeves and doing the work ourselves, we would,” he said.

The oversight, which was also attended by FHWA Territorial Representative Glenn M. Yasui, is expected to continue in the next few weeks.