PSS blocked from CDBG ‘until further notice’

The Northern Marianas Housing Corp. has disallowed the Public School System from applying for future Community Development Block Grant effective immediately.

NMHC said it will not accept any future CDBG funding applications from PSS “until further notice.”

In a letter addressed to Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, NMHC said the move was “due to the entity’s non-compliance with CDBG requirements with its previous projects.”

CDBG funds are allocated to the housing corporation by the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development.

Among the PSS projects that the housing corporation has issues with was “the loss of MHS Building J collateral equipment funded back in 2008 and the failure to construct the Saipan Southern High School swimming pool funded in 2013.”

According to NMHC deputy director Zenie Mafnas, the Marianas High School project cost about $173,000 in CDBG funds. During an inventory check in 2010 that was part of their monitoring, NMHC was unable to find equipment such as laptops, desktops, projectors, and chairs. These missing items amount to $69,000.

The amount for the Saipan Southern swimming pool, on the other hand, is about $16,000.

Mafnas said PSS would have to reimburse NMHC for what it reimbursed HUD.

“These two items resulted in a reimbursement of CDBG funds to HUD. PSS has placed the CNMI at risk of losing CDBG grant funding due to its inability to adhere to grant requirements,” the letter, signed by corporate director Jesse Palacios, said.

The letter further states that PSS has been non-cooperative despite NMHC’s efforts to give it enough time to submit all the necessary project documentation.

It also stated that the conditions in the agreements between NMHC and PSS have been disregarded.

“NMHC cannot afford to lose CDBG funding because of a subrecipient’s failure to meet grant requirements. As we all know, there is a need for community planning and development projects in the CNMI, which will benefit the entire community, most especially the children and youth, and NMHC must enforce its monitoring efforts and adhere to HUD’s CDBG’s program rules and regulations in order to continue the implementation of the CDBG program in the CNMI,” the letter said.

The housing agency noted that they will continue to monitor current CDBG-funded projects of PSS.