Flashback — Nov. 1999-Nov. 2003

NMHC receives $315K in federal grants[/B]

The Northern Marianas Housing Corp. will now be able to begin construction of some 45 houses in Koblerville after it received a $315,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle under its Affordable Housing Program. It is the first Affordable Housing Program Grant received by NMHC. According to John S. Tenorio, board chairman of the NMHC, the AHP funds are competitive grants meant to help residential regions with lower-income households, earning 80 percent or below the median income for the area. NMHC applied for the housing grant with theFederal Home Loan Bank of Seattle through BankPacific, formerly Guam Savings and Loan Association. The Koblerville expansion project, intended for first-time homeowners, is designed to be an innovative and ideal community for local families as restrictive agreements are to be followed to ensure maintenance of high standards.

Almost all government agencies in the CNMI are already Y2K compliant, easing fears that there will be major public service disruption due to failure of computer systems to recognize the year 2000. A Y2K Task Force created by the Office of the Governor has been coordinating efforts in beating the millennium bug that could jeopardize the delivery of basic services in the CNMI. Representatives from the government and the private sector met yesterday in a conference to address the issue of Y2K preparedness in the Northern Marianas.
[B] Nov. 11, 2002

CUC gets $2M more from EPA[/B]

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation has received some $2 million in additional funding from the Environmental Protection Agency for water-related projects. CUC executive director Lorraine A. Babauta said CUC received $1.9 million in EPA funding for the utility firm’s water improvement programs, while $750,000 went to its Agingan Point wastewater treatment plant. “We got additional money to carry out our projects,” Babauta said in an interview. The availability of the funding was discussed during a meeting between CUC, EPA, and other concerned local agencies last week.

Due to lack of a regular specialist, the Commonwealth Health Center has recorded a backlog in patients needing necessary treatment for their ear, nose, and throat problems. So far, the DPH said, at least 500 ENT patients are on the waiting list. “It’s a considerable backlog,” DPH medical director Dr. Richard Brostrom said. With the entry of a new full-time ENT doctor, Dr. Florian Braig, Brostrom said the CHC might be able to solve the backlog in a few months. Meantime, Braig said that based on his assessment, local patients suffer mostly from ear infection, hearing loss, and sinusitis.

SIA modernization plan in full swing[/B]

The Commonwealth Ports Authority yesterday unveiled plans for the Saipan International Airport’s Terminal Modernization Project under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Entitlement Fund amounting to $5.4 million for the initial year of implementation. CPA Executive Director Carlos H. Salas disclosed, during a Board meeting yesterday, that the SIA Terminal Modernization Project seeks to expand the entire terminal area by allocating ample spaces to both arrival and departure facilities. The project falls under the FAA Entitlement Fund that guarantees an annual $5.4 million funding allocation for the project. Once approved, the project would absorb all other pending constructions at the Saipan airport including ramp improvement, car rental concession, parking area, water system, among others.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s team that ranked proposals submitted for the water desalination project went to South Korea to check on the new water technology offered by a private off-island company, the CUC said in a media release. The team included CUC Board operations committee chairman Frank Q. Guerrero, power division manager Ben Mesa, water division manager Jess Castro, and wastewater division manager Ed Babauta. The four said that, prior to brining the top proposal before the entire board of directors, they first invested in airplane tickets at under $500 each and went to Korea for two days.