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Governor may veto Agingan bill
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Posted on Mar 30 2005
Gov. Juan N. Babauta is inclined to veto the $3.3 million Agingan reprogramming bill due to the lack of available funds.
The bill, which passed both chambers of the Legislature recently, has yet to be transmitted to the Governor’s Office.
“If it’s transmitted as drafted, I would veto it because there’s less than that amount remaining. I don’t think it’s proper to approve it without enough funding,” said the governor.
He acknowledged that the project “is very important and very vital to the community.”
But he said that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. should continue working again with concerned authorities in identifying needed funds for the Agingan wastewater treatment facility project.
“It’s going to be a challenging work for CUC,” he said.
Earlier, House members disclosed that the Kagman wastewater project—the funding source of the Agingan project—has a balance of about $2 million only as of March 17. It prompted them to defer action on a bill tapping the same source of funds for a $1 million road and drainage project.
The Kagman wastewater project was originally allotted $10 million.
Last year, the Legislature reprogrammed $5.8 million from it for the completion of the Saipan hemodialysis center.
Lawmakers then questioned the lack of remaining funds, citing that the balance should have been $4.2 million instead of only $2 million.
Based on a Department of Finance report to the Legislature, other funds were used for “survey cost, design with SSFM, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work, and miscellaneous.”
The CUC, which has been aware of the lack of funds, favors the delay in the transmittal of the bill to the Governor’s Office.
