OPA looks into Tinian expenses for WWII events

Expenditures incurred by the Tinian government for the 60th commemoration of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic missions are currently under scrutiny by the Office of the Public Auditor.

Prompted by requests from several anonymous hotline callers, OPA has started looking into allegations that over $300,000 in public funds had been spent for the eight-day commemoration in August 2005.

Most of the funds came from the Tinian Mayor’s Office and Tinian Municipal Treasury, according to public auditor Michael Sablan.

Philip T. Mendiola-Long, chair of the 60th commemoration events and special assistant for policy and research for the Tinian government, refused to comment on OPA’s review.

OPA has requested the Department of Finance and the Tinian Municipal Treasury to suspend all pending payments to the 60th commemoration expenditures until OPA completed its review.

Sablan expressed hope that OPA would be able to come up with official findings in a week or two.

“It’s unfortunate because many vendors involved are established and reputable vendors. It’s unfortunate that this review is resulting in a delay in the payment process. But our concern is to ensure that public funds are expended in accordance to laws and regulations,” Sablan said.

Specifically, OPA is reviewing the procurement process that organizers followed when they awarded contracts for goods and services provided for the event.

OPA’s initial review showed that most of the contracts had been awarded without bidding process, according to Sablan. Some vendors have reportedly been awarded contracts amounting to about $30,000 each.

The audit office is also looking into the budget application on the expenditures. Sablan noted that the commemoration was not part of the government’s budget for the current fiscal year. Neither have funds been reprogrammed and identified to cover the expenditures for the event.

“We’re concerned as to what basis was used to obligate funds when they have not been identified before the contractors were awarded. We’re also looking into ethics act issues, whether there were any conflicts of interest in awarding contracts to vendors or entities that may have a conflict of interest concerned,” Sablan said.

He maintained that contracting government agencies and vendors alike were responsible in ensuring that laws and regulations are followed in any procurement process.

“Only in special circumstances where an emergency situation is involved can these regulations be waived. In the case of the 60th commemoration, we are unable to identify any emergency situation. This was an event that was planned and organized months in advance.

“The message here is that there are laws and regulations that need to be complied with when contracting with the government, and vendors and agencies in the government have a shared responsibility to comply with those laws and regulations,” Sablan said.