NMTI remains at a standstill

The Northern Marianas Technical Institute remains at a standstill and will continue to remain so if Gov. Ralph DLG Torres does not appoint members for a “Committee on Transition” to complete the transfer of all assets from the trades institute to the technical institute.

In a letter to the governor last week, the NMTI board of trustees stated that, without the appointments, NMTI is left at a standstill and NMTI will not be able to meet its deadline. The trustees also sent a similar letter to the Office of the Governor on March 12, 2020.

“With the impending reopening of NMTI tentatively scheduled for early September 2020 to coincide with the [Public School System], whose high school students being a large bulk of our target clients, we feel it urgent to call this matter once again to your immediate attention,” the letter stated.

The trustees added that they empathize with the current struggles that the office is facing in dealing with the pandemic but it is important that an appointment is made soon.

“We must bring this issue forth to adhere [to] the intent of [Public Law] 20-92, as the CNMI government inadvertently [has] not been compliant to date. The continued delay resulting from unresolved appointments to the Committee on Transition has left our constituency in a state of ambiguity,” they wrote.

P.L. 20-92 that was established to recognize NMTI as a government entity states that, upon confirmation of all NMTI board positions and organization of the new NMTI board of trustees, the governor shall appoint a Committee on Transition. The committee must include, but is not limited to, the special assistant for management and budget, the secretary of the Department of Finance, the director of Procurement and Supply, the secretary of the Department of Public Lands, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the CEO and remaining board of directors of the Northern Marianas Trades Institute.

In an interview with Agnes McPhetres, NMTI chief executive officer, she said the committee will cease to exist on Oct. 2 if a transition plan is not completed and submitted within 180 days after the organization of the Committee on Transition. However, a Committee on Transition should have been established within 15 days after the organization of the board of trustees on March 12.

McPhetres added that it is important to finally transfer assets, records, and other important things to the board of trustees. “Everything is still pending. Like the land [in Lower Base and Koblerville] is still not given to NMTI because there is no paper. It is like you rent something and you have not signed the contract and it is not complete yet,” she said.