CIP central agency eyed

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio is mulling over a proposal to set up a central government agency that will coordinate all the capital improvement projects in the Commonwealth in a bid to speed up completion of these infrastructure plans.

The move comes in the wake of reported in-fighting between departments and agencies over use of millions of dollars in construction grants from the federal government and local matching from the CNMI.

At present, some $45 million worth of infrastructure projects are awaiting construction, according to Tenorio. “We want to make sure that we are monitoring those projects, not only the CIP, but also other federal grants that have been made available to us,” he told reporters over the weekend.

The proposed body will be established directly under the Office of the Governor and will be tasked to coordinate with other agencies that have received CIP funding for their respective construction plans.

“I hate to see so many departments involved in one project,” the local chief executive explained. “We should try to eliminate that and try to centralize the office as much as possible so that it will expedite the delivery of services.”

But the proposal has yet to get off the ground as some departments have opposed the creation of a central office, citing their efforts to forge ahead with the badly-need infrastructure development.

Tenorio underscored the need to improve communication between and among government agencies, such as the Department of Public Works and the Public School System, to avoid delay and potential problems that may stall their completion.

Asked whether the central office could add another bureaucratic layer to the existing process, the governor believed the current set up does not guarantee easy access to CIP funds.

“The problem sometimes (with) these people (is that) communication is very poor,” he said, adding government officials must get together to resolve their differences.

“They don’t have to argue. (They should) sit down and try to put in their effort on the need. I don’t think that it is going to be a problem,” Tenorio pointed out.

The island government has so far set aside about $103.2 million worth of CIP funds, including the sale of PSS bonds and the recently-signed law allocating $24.2 million to various infrastructure projects such as the new the prison on Saipan.

Likewise, legislators have passed a proposed law authorizing the Commonwealth Development Authority to float some $60 million worth of bonds to match other federal construction grants in the next three years.

But some public officials, particularly from Rota and Tinian, have complained against apparent slow release of these funds by the central government to their municipal projects.

Tenorio said the official who will be assigned to head the new agency will help link these various agencies. “Whoever is responsible for that project, not only CIP, he or she will also be assigned for other purposes,” he added.