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‘Reimbursements will guarantee LOC’
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Posted on May 29 2019
If ever the Marianas Public Land Trust board extends a line of credit to the government, reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be used to guarantee the loan, according to Finance Secretary David Atalig.
Atalig, who is currently in Washington, D.C. to meet with some federal officials, gave this assurance via a video call during an MPLT board meeting last night.
When asked by MPLT legal counsel Robert Torres how the government intends to pay the LOC, Atalig pledged the first $7.5 million of FEMA reimbursements to MPLT on whatever amount the board agrees to give the CNMI government.
The LOC will be done with the authorization of the Legislature, with House Speaker Blas Jonathan T. Attao (R-Saipan) introducing House Bill 21-44 that pledges as security the interest income distributions from MPLT.
“The Legislature—should it pass the law allowing me to go into negotiations with the debt service with MPLT—the Finance Department, Governor’s Office, and MPLT will come up with the documentation to ensure the repayment to MPLT,” said Atalig.
He assured MPLT that the LOC will be the administration’s top priority when asked if paying the possible loan would be a top priority. “That’s the reason why I’m out here. I’m pledging that when we get reimbursements, we will pay back what we drawdown on.”
Atalig said this was his first time to work on FEMA reimbursements. “At the rate that FEMA is going in and [based on] my communication with my counterpart in the U.S. Virgin Islands on their reimbursement pattern with FEMA, it took a couple of years to get their reimbursements.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands were hit by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, both Category 5 storms, in a span of two weeks on Sept. 6 and Sept. 20 in 2017. Their damage totaled over $4 billion.
“However, in their case, they had more outlay than we did. Like I said, I don’t have any experience working with FEMA reimbursements. But I will make sure that in any future disasters that might happen, we will have all documentation to ensure quicker reimbursements.”
