House OKs $24M for CIP

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio is expected to sign into law a fresh infusion of Capital Improvement Project funds after the House of Representatives approved on Friday a minor amendment to the bill appropriating more than $24 million in construction grants.

House members were obviously relieved that the Senate did not press its attempts to alter provisions of the measure, including handing expenditure and reprogramming authority to mayors, which would have further delayed the governor’s approval.

Rep. Karl T. Reyes, chair of House Ways and Means Committee, assured that the Tenorio administration would accept the shifting of funds made on the Rota allocation since it would not affect the overall amount.

Introduced by House Speaker Diego T. Benavente, the administration-sponsored measure will set aside $24.2 million for new infrastructure projects of the CNMI government, half of which will be drawn from federal grants under Covenant 702 funding.

However, House Bill 11-408 also included funding for the prison project and the completion of the Marianas High School Gymnasium which had been approved earlier by the Legislature.
The new infrastructure plan — most of which were pet projects by legislators — that have been given funding boost are:

For Rota, health center expansion $1.31 million; new runway for the airport, $1.29 million; and road improvement in Sinapalo and Songsong, $800,000.

For Tinian, the expansion, renovation and construction of the existing airport will receive $3.4 million.

For Saipan, Nang Ocha road project, $1.2 million; Chinatown sewage system, $1.72 million; and utility installation for Koblerville Homestead, $2.12 million and for Tanapag Homestead, $2 million.

Its passage came after attempts in the Senate to overhaul the CIP bill were blocked in fear it would suffer the same fate that greeted the initial measure and risk yet another veto from Tenorio.

The Senate instead had to settle on the minor amendment, shifting the amount set aside for two projects on Rota, while junking proposal from Rota delegation to e give expenditure and reprogramming authorities to each respective senatorial district.

Seen as a compromise measure, HB 11-408 represents the second batch of CIP-funded projects following appropriation last March of nearly $9 million for the first phase of the new prison and completion of the gym.

Although a priority by island leaders, observers believe deliberation on the CIP allocation has become a test of political will as lawmakers scramble to insert their own projects into the long-completed master plan.

Some $154 million have been provided in the entire package, half of which will be made available by Washington until 2002 on condition that the CNMI sets aside equal amount

Local officials have pinned hopes on the CIP money to spur the island economy amid continuous decline in tourist arrivals as well as anticipated slowdown in garment manufacturing due to the recent $1 billion lawsuits.

Brief session:

Meanwhile, House members expressed appreciation during its brief session last Friday to government agencies and departments assisting the federal government in handling more than 500 illegal Chinese immigrants who are temporarily staying on Tinian.

They presented plaques of the resolution offered by Rep. Herman Palacios, chair of the Labor and Immigration Committee, which was passed at a House session last month.

Also, Tinian Rep. Jose A. Hocog urged his colleagues to exempt the island municipality from the mandatory car insurance due to failure by some car owners to have their insured.

He told the session that some residents have been refused insurance coverage and so they would face possible violation of the law which took effect June 1.

Since Tinian does not have a big number of vehicles, Hocog asked that they be exempted — a request turned down by most House members.