Tinian seeks additional $140K for health, public safety

The Tinian municipality will need at least $140,000 in additional funds for the next fiscal year in order for the local government to improve public health services and maintain peace and order on the island.

While other agencies on Tinian have opted not to request additional budget under the proposed spending package for Fiscal 2000, the departments of Public Safety as well as Public Health there have asked for bigger slice of the government resources.

According to House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Karl T. Reyes, most of the satellite offices of the central government on the island, including the Tinian Mayor’s office, have expressed willingness to live within the budget set aside by the Tenorio administration.

But he said local officials have sought assistance from the panel to approve hiring of additional nurse for the Tinian Health Center as well as higher budget for DPS office there to meet overtime pay of some police officers.

At least $51,000 will have to be added on top of the $1.96 million allotted to the local hospital for the next fiscal year, which is actually down from the $2.02 million given to them by the central government in FY 1999.

Likewise, the local DPS will require additional funding of about $91,000 to cover differential and overtime pay for 10 new police officers who were hired under a federal program.

Reyes said the present staff of the Tinian Health Center — two medical officers and a dentist — are “overworked” as patients continue to stream in every 10 minutes each day, including weekends.

“They are looking for an additional registered nurse or a nurse that is experienced to assist medical doctors,” he said.

Local police authorities, on the other hand, have appealed for bigger personnel funds which have already amounted to $1.45 million out of the $1.52 million provided by the administration to DPS office on Tinian.

“DPS is looking at an extra $91,000 for the entire year,” Reyes explained, adding that they would also need three new patrol cars to improve their surveillance of the community as the present fleet of four leased vehicles are already “obsolete.”

The Ways and Means Committee held a budget hearing on Tinian the other day as part of its review of the proposed budget of $206 million handed in by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio last April.

Members of the panel have been besieged by requests from several departments and agencies for additional budget for FY 2000, but they have not committed any money due to the continuous decline in government revenues.

To help Tinian address its immediate needs, the committee has pledged to reprogram lapse funds from previous fiscal year so that the municipal government can realign funds for vital services, like public safety and health.

“We have identified a lot of lapse funds from personnel because they never hired new employees,” Reyes pointed out. “We’ve asked them to work together with Finance to pay for next year’s supply so that (their savings) this year could be applied for next year under personnel budget.”

Asked how much the remaining balance from the local government’s allocation, the representative said they still need to find out. It “might not have the funds anymore, that it’s only in paper,” Reyes added.