Gov't moves to save fed highway grants
Visibly irked by reports of staff shortage at the Department of Public Works, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio assured yesterday that measures are being carried out so as not to imperil critical projects, particularly those funded by the federal government.
His administration is committed to hiring engineers and other professionals for the department to ensure that projects like the Federal Highway Aid Program will continue to benefit the CNMI, he said.
Funds have also been set aside under the proposed FY 2001 budget to employ at least two new full-time engineers to augment the staff for DPW’s Technical Services Division which oversees the $3.2 million annual assistance granted by the Federal Highway administration.
In fact, the division’s spending level will rise to nearly $1.9 million from $1.5 million in FY 2000 to allow the hiring of more engineers, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
“We try to provide all necessary employees [in order for DPW] to carry out not only the highway project, but the [capital improvement projects as well] because we would like to see those projects to continue,” the governor told reporters in an interview.
Mr. Tenorio’s reaction came as the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee began its oversight on alleged mismanagement and inefficiency by the department in handling the highway aid program.
Failure by the CNMI government to institute corrective measures, including staffing the division with additional engineers, may deprive the islands of the badly-needed grants, according to local and federal officials.
The governor earlier has written to FHA Hawaii Division Administrator Abraham Wong in response to his concerns about the staff shortage and the DPW’s inability to comply with its requirements.
He has assured him of the efforts by the island government to meet the conditions attached with the $3.2 million aid, while trying to work with FHA officials such as Territorial Representative Glenn Yasui to address the problems.
“We are committed because we would like to see the continued improvement of the road facility over here,” Mr. Tenorio told reporters. “I hate to see [it when] we lose funding for our highway program].”
But Andrew Smith, TSD director, has expressed worry that the problems could be compounded with the imminent departure of eight Filipino engineers who will be affected by a two-year old law that will restrict DPW from hiring nonresidents by September this year.
He stressed that recruiting replacement from the U.S. mainland would be costly as the government has to offer more than the pay that the nonresident engineers are getting now.
Mr. Tenorio, however, reacted strongly against his statement, noting that the CNMI will have to hire the right people to oversee critical programs such as the highway grants.
“That’s what Mr. Smith said,” he said. “But what we would like to see is that we have enough staff to look over the project and work for the project. It may cost us money, but at the same time we would like to see that we continue to receive the funding.”
During the oversight, senators have thrown their support for hiring of additional staff for TSD in order to help resolve the dilemma that the highway aid program has been facing for the past three years.
