Lack of transcribers stymies CUC’s compliance with auditor’s request

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. yesterday cited the lack of transcribers as the reason why it failed to provide the documents requested by the Office of the Public Auditor for its investigation on CUC’s procurement of the water desalination project.

CUC executive director Lorraine Babauta said she was aware of OPA’s repeated requests for the minutes and records of the CUC board meetings where the project had been discussed. The utility corporation, however, was not able to submit the documents because the requested information is still “on tape.”

“We used to have a private contractor providing us with transcription services, but that company is no longer in business. That’s why we’re behind in our transcription,” said Babauta.

In an August 11 letter to attorney general Pamela S. Brown, public auditor Mike Sablan said CUC has committed flagrant violations of both the Open Government Act and the Auditing Act for not disclosing all relevant information about the water desalination project.

Sablan said the Attorney General’s Office should help OPA in taking action against CUC officials.

For her part, Babauta said OPA’s recommendations to the attorney general “definitely caught our attention.” CUC will ask OPA to give the corporation some time to hire a company that will transcribe all the required meeting records, she added.

“We understand the seriousness of OPA’s investigation and there’s no reason why we should not comply with the public auditor’s request. We will secure a transcription company as soon as possible, and then we’ll respond to OPA’s request once the transcribers are done working on the records of the sessions. This will definitely be on top of our priorities,” she said.

The Open Government Act requires government agencies to record all regular, special and executive board meetings, and make those records open for public inspection within 30 days after the approval of the minutes.

The law also states that public records should be made available for inspection within 10 days of request by a concerned party.

Sablan began requesting the minutes since Nov. 17, 2003. On Dec. 3, 2003, Babauta wrote OPA, saying that the minutes were not yet available.

OPA reiterated its request on Jan. 8, March 29, and finally, on July 26.

As early as Dec. 2003, OPA had recommended that the CUC board cancel the request for proposal for a 3-million gallon water desalination plant, citing that the procurement process was “flawed and tainted to a significant degree.”

OPA had cited in a preliminary report that a July 9, 2003, pre-RFP agreement between then CUC board chair Herman P. Sablan and contractor Taekwang “destroys the concept of a valid, competitive, and unbiased RFP, as required by both CUC and the CNMI Procurement Regulations.”

On March 29, 2004, amid findings of irregularities in its procurement process, majority of the CUC board voted in favor of terminating the RFP and reassessing the viability of the whole project.

Only Sablan and then CUC vice chair Frank Guerrero—now the board chair—voted against junking the controversial RFP.