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Govt seeks Interior grant for wage survey
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Posted on Sep 05 2011
While the Fitial administration has yet to receive word from the U.S. Department of Labor on the CNMI government’s $40,701.99 grant application to fund a prevailing wage survey, it has also asked the U.S. Department of the Interior for some $90,000 in grant money for the survey and training of personnel required to institutionalize the program.
But acting governor Eloy S. Inos said regardless of when these grant applications are decided on, the government will move ahead with the prevailing wage survey.
Inos said the administration had an understanding with the Interior to allow the government to use a portion of $1 million grant money awarded to the CNMI in July for the wage survey, should their separate grant application for the wage survey is not approved. That $1 million grant is meant to, among other things, resuscitate the ailing economy.
“From our standpoint, we filed the application (with U.S. Labor) and we haven’t received formal denial but in the meantime, we’re proceeding with the survey,” Inos said.
He said the administration asked for some $90,000 in grant money from the Interior “to include training for the people because we want to be able to establish it, institutionalize the program, so we can periodically do it.”
The government wage survey is separate from a similar survey being done by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, which received from the Interior a $16,150 technical assistance grant.
Richard Pierce, executive director of the Chamber, said yesterday that they will remind members again to turn in they wage survey forms by Friday, Sept. 9.
