…as House approves Agingan bill

After a lengthy discussion, the House of Representatives finally approved yesterday the reprogramming of $3.3 million for the needed upgrade of the Agingan wastewater treatment plant on Saipan.

Despite hesitation by some members, House Bill 14-286 garnered a resounding 13 “yes” votes and only three “no” votes from Reps. Janet Maratita, Ray Tebuteb, and Benjamin Seman.

Some members only agreed to vote on the measure after it was amended to bring it back to its original version.

The bill, authored by Vice Speaker and former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Timothy Villagomez, originally sought to reprogram $3.3 million from the Kagman wastewater treatment plant project for the construction of the Agingan ocean outfall and upgrade of the Agingan sewer treatment plant.

But during a previous session, the bill was amended to include “riders” such as other wastewater and road-paving projects, leaving only $1.6 million for the treatment plant.

The amended bill aimed to allot $800,000 to supplement the shortfall in the As Matuis Wastewater project, to connect the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School toilet facilities to the CUC sewer system, and to install sewer service lateral lines in Achugao and Tanapag areas. It also wanted to earmark $200,000 to supplement the shortfall in the Fina Sisu wastewater project, and $700,000 for various road-paving projects in Precinct I.

Villagomez said the insertions of the riders took place because some lawmakers had found out that CUC had only applied for a $1.6 million loan from the Commonwealth Development Authority.

“There was some confusion. They thought that if CUC only needed $1.6 million, what are they going to do with the remaining money? But since CUC has qualified itself, the money gets reinstated. With today’s passage, CUC can now go ahead with the project without penalty,” said Villagomez.

CUC earlier warned that if no funding was made available by Feb. 28, it would face a daily fine of over $30,000 per violation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

CUC board chair Frank Guerrero said the penalty would no longer be imposed because EPA had agreed to give them another grace period.

In 1999, EPA issued an administrative order against CUC for its failure to upgrade the ocean outfall to meet environmental standards and improve the quality of effluent being discharged into the ocean.

In yesterday’s session, officials clarified that EPA had given CUC a total of $2.1 million grant that required a local matching fund. Authorities said the whole project requires $5.6 million to complete.

When asked on the possible increase in contract price, CUC acting executive director Bernard Villagomez assured lawmakers that the utility firm has negotiated with the contractor to keep its 2002 contract rate.

CUC said the project is handled by GPPC.