Sablan: Failure to use $12M highway funds may pose problem

CNMI Delegate Gregorio C. “Kilili” Sablan said the CNMI’s failure to use $12 million in surface transportation reauthorization appropriated in 2005 does not bode well for future funding requests.

Sablan was responding to a letter from Sen. Paul A. Manglona, who asked for an update on Public Law 109-59 or the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) and the successive legislation that will govern U.S. federal transportation spending.

P.L. 109-59 will expire on Sept. 30, 2009, and Congress is currently working on a replacement bill for the following six-year period.

In 2005, the CNMI was successful in obtaining $12 million under the SAFETEA-LU to improve and maintain transportation infrastructure on the islands. This was in addition to the annual federal highway funding of some $4 million that the CNMI receives.

The 2005 funding was used to initiate the Talafofo highway project that will link neighboring communities on Saipan and enhance the island’s tourism appeal.

Manglona said there are still many transportation infrastructure projects in the CNMI that have been stalled and/or in need of funding, particularly on Rota.

Sablan said he is submitting funding proposals based on road projects the CNMI has already prepared, and will work hard to secure monies for Rota, Tinian and Saipan.

“If these projects are funded under the surface transportation legislation, annual Federal Highway Administration grants that would have been used will be freed up,” Sablan told Manglona.

Sablan added that the monies could then be directed to a study to determine the feasibility of establishing, maintaining and operating an inter-island ferry service.

“And, if that study indicates it would be feasible and affordable, then annual Federal Highway grants could also be used to establish a ferry. Of course, all of this would be at the discretion of the Commonwealth government,” he said.

Manglona had asked for the possibility of tapping federal funds for a regular ferry service between the CNMI and Guam.

Sablan, in a May 8 letter to Manglona, said before taking his seat in the U.S. Congress in December and again in February, he urged Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to take action to study the feasibility of such service but he has yet to learn of any update on this.

He added that once an office of transportation is created, it could answer many questions about the proposed ferry service, including the number of passengers expected to use it, the revenues to be generated, whether it is limited to passenger or would also include automobiles and freight, the types of vessels needed, or whether the service would pay for itself or be subsidized by the CNMI government.