Previous Story
House says CUC’s La Fiesta move ‘sudden’
|
Posted on May 30 2005
The House leadership considers the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s transfer to the La Fiesta complex in San Roque as “sudden,” citing that no audit report has been released yet on the controversial purchase and use of the facility.
“I believe the suggestion of the Office of Public Auditor was to hold up plans because there was an ongoing audit of La Fiesta. I haven’t seen any audit report. Yet our understanding last Friday was that CUC was instructed to mobilize and move to La Fiesta,” said Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez.
Villagomez, chair of the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation, and Communications, said CUC should have issued a public notice to inform people about the transfer.
“It seems so sudden. There should have been an advertisement out in public. I hope there are still some people in Dandan office to assist customers,” he said.
CUC has been occupying the second and third floors of Joeten building in Dandan for several years. Its lease is set to expire today.
The transfer came more than a week after Gov. Juan N. Babauta took control of CUC following his declaration of state of disaster emergency in the CNMI
The Governor’s Office, which provided money to purchase the facility for the Northern Marianas College’s Pacific Gateway about two years ago, currently owns the La Fiesta complex.
NMC turned over the ownership of the complex to the Governor’s Office due to accreditation warnings, which also resulted in the abandonment of the Pacific Gateway program.
The government acquired the facility for $7.5 million using a $3.5 million federal grant as deposit.
The acquisition agreement also obligates the government to pay $200,000 every year over 20 years.
Meantime, sources said that the CUC allegedly agreed to give La Fiesta engineering consultant Ramon “Kumoi” Guerrero $7,000 additional pay per month for three months.
Governor legal counsel Steve Newman denied this yesterday.
Last March, former senator Guerrero entered into a $50,000 six-month consultancy contract with the administration for La Fiesta.
Newman also denied allegations that a new “power mechanic” has been hired upon the recommendation of Guerrero.
