GDDC seeks bus funding
The Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council is seeking funding for public transportation which will benefit citizens with disabilities and the Man’Amko.
In a letter to Commissioner of Education Rita H. Inos, the council is seeking funding from the Federal Transit Administration of the U. S. Transportation, which financed the acquisition of buses for the Public School System.
Cognizant to the bus shortage problem of PSS, Executive Director Thomas Camacho has maintained to advocate this transportation benefit in promoting independence, productivity and integration of both groups.
He said the commonwealth is the only insular area which is not prohibited to use FTA funding exclusively for school buses. This exemption presents the opportunity to stretch FTA funding and include to service both groups in society.
“It’s high time that we collaborate and address the transportation need of our citizens with developmental disabilities and the elders,” he told the Commissioner.
The council is also tapping the help of the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation, with its Community Developmental Block Grant, for additional funding in realizing this transportation benefit.
Meanwhile, the PSS is maintaining vans and mini-buses to ferry students with disabilities. They are smaller than the regular buses since these vans are not limited on the main road in fetching and dropping-off students right from their homes.
