FLASHBACK – July 26, 2011

NMIRF asked to recover $127K from ex-CPA officials[/B]

The Public Auditor is asking the NMI Retirement Fund to recover more than $127,000 worth of retirement benefits improperly made to two former officials of the Commonwealth Ports Authority who were found to have inflated their leave and compensatory time credits to get higher pension. Although a series of hearings conducted by CPA’s Personnel Affairs Committee insisted the 2,700 compensatory time claimed by the agency’s former security chief had a factual basis, OPA maintained these were excessive and warranted. The Public Auditor has also suggested that the matter be referred to the Attorney General’s Office should the NMI Retirement Fund encounter problems in the recovery of the $126,730.06 in retirement benefits improperly paid to the two former CPA officials.

Lawmakers have sought to set aside excess funds from completed capital improvement projects on Saipan for other infrastructure plans on the island under a bill recently passed by the House of Representatives. HB 12-122, or the Capital Improvement Project Act of 2000, seeks to establish a special account for the third senatorial district for any and all CIP funds which will then be used for its future development projects. Offered by Rep. Jesus T. Attao, it will provide reprogramming authority to the governor to shift these unexpended funds for priority projects on Saipan.

Financial aid for alien students mulled[/B]

Help for Northern Marianas College alien students may be underway, with plans by the NMC administration to set up a financial assistance program eyed to benefit minority students. The college is laying the groundwork for a financial support program to be established for non-US citizens, especially those who have limited means to meet NMC’s tuition demands. NMC Institutional Development Director Tony V. Deleon Guerrero said the college is counting on the assistance from various community organizations that are willing to sponsor a nonresident student.

The Marianas Visitors Authority just got the equivalent of an early Christmas gift, courtesy of the Senate. The Upper Chamber flexed its muscles yesterday by overriding the veto on a bill that would set aside 100 percent of the aviation fuel tax for the MVA to fund the improvement of tourism in the Commonwealth. Besides this, House Bill 12-359 would also mandate the creation of two deputy marketing director positions: one for Rota and one for Tinian. Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio earlier vetoed the bill, saying that, much as he would like to approve the measure, he has to abide by the recommendations of the MVA Board, which strongly opposes the creation of the additional positions. The Board believes that this would cause duplicated functions and unnecessary added costs.

BoS objects to status presentation[/B]

The Bank of Saipan board of directors has aired objections to the court-approved presentations on the bank’s current status next week, raising issues of alleged due process violations against the bank owners. Lawyer David A. Mair, in a motion opposing BoS receiver Randall T. Fennell’s ex parte request for presentations, called on the court to vacate its July 22 order which scheduled the BoS reportage for July 29 and 30. The bank counsel, in asserting that the receiver’s motion should not have been granted, stated that BoS must be timely informed of factual and legal contentions to be advanced by the receiver’s contracted financial consultants prior to the presentations.

The Office of the Public Auditor has taken the side of a construction firm in its argument that it submitted its protest on time in connection with the selection of the winning bidder for the A&E of the CNMI Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery. In a decision issued Wednesday, Public Auditor Michael A. Sablan directed that the matter be remanded to the Division of Procurement and Supply for a decision on the merits of the remaining arguments raised by the SSFM (Saipan), Inc. The OPA pointed out that P&S Director Herman Sablan himself acknowledged that his original decision to deny SSFM’s protest was incorrect, as he had been misinformed that the Department of Public Works had already decided to award the project to SSFM’s competitor, RIM Architects (Guam), Inc.