$2-M Compact money for THS is merely repayment for Tinian

It is only right that Gov. Juan N. Babauta allocate the $2 million in Compact Impact money to Tinian since it was Tinian that put up the $24 million that started the Marianas Public Land Trust fund, which was then used to build housing units for emigrants from the Federated States of Micronesia.

Senate Floor Leader Joaquin G. Adriano stressed this point, adding that the money used to construct the housing units on Garapan and Navy Hill for FSM emigrants came from the trust fund generated from the 1978 military leaseback on Tinian.

“So, the $24 million that we got from the military leaseback established the MPLT fund, from which the money was then sourced to build these housing units,” he said.

Essentially, therefore, the $2 million in Compact Impact money that the Interior Department granted to the CNMI government in February this year is only a small repayment to Tinian of the $24 million that went to the trust fund, he added.

This comes soon after the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation wrote to Gov. Juan N. Babauta questioning his decision to channel the $2 million Compact Impact money to the Tinian High School. The delegation had also questioned the Governor’s authority to appropriate the money, saying it is the only one that has the power to do so.

Despite this, Adriano said, “I think the Governor is totally right when he took the $2 million and put it on Tinian High School so we could proceed to Phase II and Phase III of the project in a faster manner and finish it at once.”

He stressed that the $2 million is totally on the discretion of the Governor, with no need to apprise the Interior Department of any specific project to which the money would be channeled. There’s no requirement from the Interior Department to justify how the Commonwealth government will expend it, he added.

As for the delegation’s insistence that the Tinian Legislative Delegation has enough Capital Infrastructure Program funds to finish the construction of the Tinian High School, Adriano said that, of the $600 million some that the CNMI has so far received in CIP money, only one-eighth went to Tinian and Rota.

“We could have gone to court and challenged that, that the money coming to the Marianas should be divided equally but we never did that because we supported the fact that Saipan should develop first since it is the center of the government,” said Adriano.