CNMI gets $400K grant for Customs’ automation

Gov. Juan N. Babauta signed yesterday a $400,000 federal grant to improve the tracking and billing system at the Division of Customs.

“This is for the purpose of acquiring and installing the [tracking and billing] system on the islands,” said the governor, adding that the new system would help improve Customs’ revenue collection, border security, and data collection.

“It will modernize the transaction of business in the CNMI, enhancing the processing time at Customs,” said Babauta.

The funding, he said, comes from the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs following a request last May.

In a July 26, 2004 letter, DOI deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs David B. Cohen said the government can submit the final reconfiguration to comply with the approved amount.

“If the reconfigured system costs more than the amount of the grant, we will be prepared to address the difference,” Cohen told Babauta.

Cohen said he understands that the new system would improve revenue collection at the ports and improve border security by increasing the ability of Customs to monitor travelers and commerce entering the CNMI.

“A major concern however, is the system configuration,” he said, citing that the system would have to be duplicated on each of the three islands to allow each to operate independently with identical staff.

A more economical way, he said, is to install the main system on Saipan fully staffed and extend satellite systems with smaller staff on Rota and Tinian.

Customs director Jay Santos said the new system would result in faster processing of reports and improved monitoring of port activities.

During the signing, Babauta acknowledged OIA’s significant role in providing grants to the CNMI. He said OIA has been his administration’s “valued partner” in the last two and a half years.

For a couple of years alone, he said the CNMI received some $30 million from OIA.

“Please convey our gratitude and sincerest appreciation to Mr. Cohen [for all these],” he told OIA field representative Jeff Schorr.

The governor, meantime, recognized yesterday the services rendered by his special assistant for customs Frank Taitano, who, he said, has been instrumental in tapping grants and assistance for the division.

He said Taitano has been a link between Customs and the federal government, a congressional liaison, and a person involved in various special assignments.