NMI only territory yet to submit ARRA-funded transportation proposals

The CNMI is the only one among U.S. territories and states that has not obligated its first federal transportation economic stimulus money, risking the receipt of $4.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for highway spending on the islands.

Delegate Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan, in a May 15 letter to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, expressed concern about the delay in the expenditure of stimulus funds Congress has made available to the CNMI under ARRA.

In his two-page letter, Sablan said it is troubling to learn that of all U.S. states and territories, the CNMI is the only government that has not yet submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation the Section 1511 certification that is required in order to begin obligating highway funds.

Congress has provided $4.5 million in ARRA funds for highway spending in the CNMI.

“When the Commonwealth is the only U.S. jurisdiction that has not completed this job, it adds to the reputation of the Northern Marianas as a place that says it needs help and then fails to use the money provided,” said Sablan.

He was referring to the $12 million in special appropriation the CNMI received in the last surface transportation authorization in 2003, which is still unexpended, and the tens of millions of Covenant capital improvement project funds that are also still on the books from many years past.

Public Works Secretary Diego B. Songsong said they expect to soon submit the Section 1511 certification.

Songsong said the requirement includes the submission of the CNMI Territorial Transportation Improvement Plan for Fiscal Years 2009-2011.

“We will try to submit it to DOT’s Federal Highway Administration today,” he told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Songsong said the delay in submission was caused by the difficulty in identifying which transportation projects will be funded using ARRA money.

The public hearing for the TTIP wrapped up on April 21. DPW did not receive a single comment from Saipan residents on the three-year highway plan involving at least $15.154 million that includes the multi-million Cross Island or Back Road improvement and the Chalan Kalabera development. An additional $4.5 million is expected to go toward phase II of the Cross Island road improvement project from ARRA.

Sablan told Fitial it does not help his efforts that the CNMI continues to be known for not spending money that is already available.

As a member of the U.S. Congress, Sablan has the opportunity to seek new funding for special projects in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization and for water infrastructure, school programs and economic development projects in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations measures.

“Governor, I can only implore you to use the millions of dollars at your disposal to help the economy now, when we are arguably in the worst situation we have been since the beginning of the Commonwealth. You have the resources to make people’s lives better. You just have to take action,” Sablan told Fitial.

Virginia became the last U.S. state to obligate its first federal transportation economic-stimulus money. The other 49 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and various U.S. territories except the CNMI, already had taken action to obligate stimulus funds, and many have already begun work on so-called shovel-ready projects.