FLASHBACK – June 23, 2011

PSS vows to complete decade-long MHS gym[/B]

The Public School System has vowed to finally complete this year the Marianas High School gymnasium project, which began almost a decade ago but had been disrupted several times by funding problems and contract conflicts. Christopher Fryling, the agency’s facilities specialist, said PSS will award on Friday the contract for the cladding of the steel structure, which remains idle after it was built more than two years ago by B&R Construction. Fryling said PSS is awaiting the US Department of Interior’s action on the bidding proposal for the final construction work.

Even though the Department of Public Safety runs the fleet of ambulance vans used by the Commonwealth Health Center to respond to emergency cases outside the hospital, the $300 charged for each run does not go to the department. Rep. Oscar M. Babauta yesterday pledged to correct the existing set-up between DPS and CHC regarding the use of these vehicles, saying portion of the money should go to maintenance and repair of ambulance vans. “We should seriously look into the issue so that DPS is not shortchanged by the funds that CHC is collecting from the ambulance run,” he said in an interview.

MVA opposes bill increasing board members[/B]

The Marianas Visitors Authority yesterday expressed concern on the financial effect of a proposed measure that will increase the number of MVA board of directors from the current nine to 11 members to its limited financial resources. Board Chair Dave M. Sablan said the legislature failed to identify the source of funding for the two new positions of deputy managing director—one each for Rota and Tinian. The board has scheduled a special meeting to discuss the issue extensively so that they can prepare for the recommendations to be submitted to the legislature. Sablan estimates that each MVA office for Rota and Tinian would need approximately $200,000 each, considered a huge burden for the tourism office.

The government must scour the boonies and other remote areas on the islands to find other drums of used oil and wastes which a lawmaker yesterday claimed were dumped and abandoned by the U.S. military for the last several decades. Rep. Stanley T. Torres likewise asked local authorities to seek assistance from the federal government to cleanup the mess that is now being discovered in several areas on Saipan. Citing the discovery 24 drums of used oil in Dandan the other day, he claimed these were left behind by the military as the site where they were found was once an airfield by U.S. Air Force right after World War II.

Legislature questions loss of power over 702 funds[/B]

The Office of Insular Affairs has promised to work with the CNMI Legislature to find out why the legislative branch was stripped of powers to appropriate CIP funds under the fiscal year 2005 agreement. House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial raised yesterday why the CNMI Legislature was not involved in the negotiation for the Section 702 agreement that was recently signed between the U.S. government and the Commonwealth. He also wants to know if such an arrangement was stipulated in the agreement. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior David B. Cohen and Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente officially signed the CIP Funding Agreement during a brief ceremony at the Governor’s Office Monday.

Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc. has awarded another $5,000 grant to non-profit group MOVER, which has proposed to clean up stormwater drainages in the northern part of Saipan. MOVER, a group of Filipino workers, would also receive an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the opening of the Pacific Islands Environment Conference today at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach. The EPA recognized MOVER’s initiative to clean up some 25 stormwater drainages on Saipan’s western shores from Garapan to San Antonio to mitigate the impact of runoff on the lagoon. The EPA also recognized MOVER’s participation in various cleanup projects organized by the Environmental Interagency Cleanup Operation Team.