Legislature ready to adopt master plan

Legislators are expected to pass a proposed bill to set into motion the recently drafted master plan of various Capital Improvement Projects on the island seen as its only hope to recover from the worsening economic crisis.

Members of the Senate yesterday met with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and other administration officials to discuss the mechanism on how to utilize some $154 million in funds guaranteed under the Covenant Agreement.

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez said they are ready to support the proposal which will identify local funds to match the federal assistance on Section 702 projects.

“I believe we will be working at the $64 million bracket for now,” he told in an interview after emerging from the two-hour informal meeting at the Hafa Adai Beach Hotel.

Villagomez also expressed support on a plan to source private financing for some of the projects in an effort to ease burden of coming up with local money to match dollar-for-dollar the federal funds totaling to $77 million until year 2002.

The master plan, mapped out by a government task force headed by Michael S. Sablan, Tenorio’s chief financial advisor, was unveiled on Tuesday after nearly 10 months of planning.

It includes a list of top 50 priority projects, such as the new prison facility and the closure of the Puerto Rico dump site as well as various school buildings, which will be presented to the federal government so the CNMI can avail of the grants made available since 1996.

The funds have remained idle over the last three years due to failure by the island government to meet the matching requirement. Local leaders have blamed the deepening financial crisis for its inability to source local money.

Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes underscored the need to tap the funds now in light of the continuous slowdown in business activities here which have suffered from the impact of the economic upheaval in Asia, NMI’s main source of tourists and investors.

“We have agreed to expedite passage of the bill in order to allocate money to the CIP plan and help jump-start our economy,” he said after the meeting.

A resolution will also be adopted by both the House of Representatives and the Senate to show legislative support on the administration plan, according to Reyes.

Since the initial bill will cover appropriations, the House will be tackling the proposal when they hold their next session.

Lawmakers have acknowledged the significance of constructing public infrastructure at this time as the capital-intensive projects will have a multiplier effect on the economy and later boost revenues of the government.