Cohen: No DOI involvement in CUC hiring

Insular Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary David Cohen has denied any involvement by the Department of the Interior in the reported firing and hiring of personnel at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

“The DOI has had absolutely no involvement in any decision regarding possible personnel changes at CUC. We have not attempted, and would not attempt, to influence hiring or firing decisions by the CUC or by any other CNMI governmental or quasi-government entity,” said Cohen, adding that, “We respect the prerogative of the appropriate local officials to make their own decisions.”

Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez, chair of the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communications, earlier tagged the DOI and Gov. Juan N. Babauta as behind the hiring of an off-island professional to allegedly replace CUC executive director Lorraine A. Babauta.

Villagomez claimed that Babauta and DOI, in collaboration with some CUC board of directors, signed a $200,000 grant to hire former American Samoa Power Authority executive director Abe Malea to manage CUC.

The lawmaker said such move is “unnecessary, disconcerting and in violation of the 1995 Partnership Agreement [between the CNMI and the DOI].”

In a letter addressed to Gov. Babauta, Villagomez said, “Although you and David B. Cohen did not sign the Partnership Agreement, both the CNMI government and DOI are bound by the terms of the agreement.”

“It is incumbent on you and Mr. Cohen to adhere to the terms and not do anything that might jeopardize much needed Covenant funding for the CNMI,” added Villagomez.

He said the DOI’s role “is a direct interference with the local affairs of the CNMI in terms of self-government.”

The congressman cautioned the governor in involving the federal government “every time we have a local situation that must be dealt with locally.”

Meantime, Cohen said that the DOI has not approved any such a grant.

He said, though, that he indicated that OIA would be willing “in principle to provide a grant to assist local authorities to procure outside expertise for utilities management.”

“Such a grant has not yet been approved, and would have to go through our review and approval process before it could be issued,” he said.

Cohen said that DOI’s approval of such a grant should not be interpreted as advocacy for any particular personnel action.

“We simply respond to requests for assistance that are made of us by local authorities,” he said.

He cited that the DOI has provided millions of dollars worth of grants to CUC in recent years through the department’s Operations and Maintenance Improvement Program and Technical Assistance Program, including a recent $92,500 grant to purchase an air compressor, a $60,000 grant for management training, and a $41,400 grant for software training.

House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes said yesterday that Villagomez’ statement “still stands.”

“The administration has not denied the allegation that he [the governor] was trying to hire somebody using a grant from the DOI. The administration has not disputed the person named,” said Reyes. The DOI, he said, acknowledges that a grant would be used for the hiring of an off-island professional.

Villagomez has criticized the entry of Malea, noting that the latter had managed “a much smaller utility firm.”

“CUC is the third largest utility in the Pacific region, so what logic is there in hiring a person who managed and operated a much smaller utility to manage our larger utility?” asked Villagomez, a former CUC executive director.