Kilili files bill to help man’amkos get access to work-based programs
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) introduced last week a legislation that would provide senior citizens or man’amkos in the CNMI more access to work-based training programs.
Sablan also disclosed in his e-kilili newsletter over the weekend that last Wednesday, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios invited him to attend a briefing from United States military officials in which the U.S. Department of Defense provided an overview of military projects and activities taking place in Marianas.
The delegate also congratulated the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Works for being awarded a total of $824,257 in fiscal year 2024 Maintenance Assistant Program grant funding from the Office of Insular Affairs.
Sablan’s bill, H.R. 9318, seeks to amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 so that the Marianas receives three times the funding the CNMI currently receives for this training.
The legislation would make available to the CNMI, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands additional funds for community service senior opportunities.
Sablan’s goal is to help man’amkos, who want to keep working and earning, learn new skills.
“As a senior myself, I know I take great satisfaction in having meaningful work and contributing in that way to our community,” said the delegate in his e-kilili newsletter.
The legislation was referred to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce.
On the briefing from U.S. military partners, Sablan underscored the need for the local government officials and stakeholders to be informed and have their questions answered fully to ensure the military buildup in the Marianas is beneficial for all parties.
The quarterly stakeholders briefing on U.S. military projects in the CNMI was held at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan’s Hibiscus Hall. Among the military officials present were Joint Task Force Micronesia Commander Rear Adm. Gregory Huffman, Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Adm. Brent DeVore, and Guam Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Christopher K Faurot.
Regarding the $824,257 MAP projects, Sablan said $345,295 was awarded to the DOC for its commercial kitchen renovation and rehabilitation project to purchase updated equipment and kitchen appliances for the in-house food service program.
He said DPW was $286,771 to acquire a dump truck and $192,191 to purchase a backhoe and compactor.
DPW will use the dump truck for road maintenance and transportation of vegetation debris, coral aggregate washout, and garbage collection for the Roadways and Stormwater Maintenance Project.
DPW will utilize the backhoe and compactor to assist with military funeral burials and other road projects for the CNMI Veterans Cemetery Project.’
The $824,257 MAP projects for the CNMI are part of the $4.5 million MAP grant funding in FY 2024 that Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary Carmen G. Cantor announced last week that will go towards supporting programs and projects benefitting the CNMI, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Freely Associated States—Federal States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau.
Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan
