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Governor looks to OIA aid for engine repairs
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Posted on Sep 18 2008
The Fitial administration is looking to the U.S. government to pay for a new contract for the repair of the two generators at Saipan’s main power plant.
Nikolao Pula, director of the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs, will visit the Commonwealth next week to meet with local government and business leaders “on strictly CUC matters,” Gov. Benigno R. Fitial announced yesterday.
The rehabilitation of Engines 5 and 7 is expected to be on top of the agenda for the meetings. The generators are designed to produce 13 megawatts each, and together, they could power half the island.
“Our plan for full recovery will be contingent on the support of the Department of the Interior,” Fitial said.
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is now accepting bids from companies interested in picking up where the former contractor, the Guam-based DCM Group, left off.
CUC executive director Antonio Muña said 11 companies have expressed interest in the project, and CUC is expecting to receive formal proposals from at least five of them. The bids will be unsealed on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, and the rehabilitation is slated to begin three weeks later.
According to Muña’s estimate, the project will cost anywhere between $2 million and $4 million. Engine 7, which DCM was working on when its contract was terminated in July, is expected to be up and running within 60 to 90 days. Engine 5 may take six to eight months to fix.
Since both engines are down now, the repair project will have no impact on the amount of power currently available to Saipan.
Pula, whose office administers several grants for the Commonwealth and other U.S. insular areas, will arrive on Saipan on Tuesday morning. He will spend his first day on island meeting with Fitial and the Strategic Economic Development Council, and then touring the main power plant, where Aggreko’s temporary generators are set up.
Pula will have a separate meeting with Fitial, Muña, and some Cabinet members. He will also meet with Tinian Mayor Jose San Nicolas and the Tinian Legislative Delegation, and the Legislature.
