Fitial cites improved relations with Interior

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said his administration is now enjoying a good relationship with the Department of the Interior.

Doug Domenech, the Interior Department’s acting deputy assistant for insular affairs, led a team of federal officials on a two-day visit to the Commonwealth earlier this week.

In a press conference yesterday, the Interior Department officials announced the approval of a $50,000 grant for the CNMI’s economic study. This is in addition to the $75,000 that the agency previously released for the project.

The officials also approved the local government’s request for the reprogramming of some $5.8 million in federal grants mainly for the repair of Saipan’s main power plant.

“I never had this kind of support [from the Interior Department] before,” Fitial said, in an obvious swipe at Domenech’s predecessor, David Cohen, with whom the governor had a rocky relationship. Fitial and Cohen had argued over issues such as immigration federalization, the appointment of James Benedetto as federal labor ombudsman in the Commonwealth, and the terms and conditions set for a federal labor grant.

Fitial said that DOI’s U.S. Office of Insular Affairs has recently been “not only very sensitive, but also supportive of the funding requests I have submitted to [the federal] office.”

“I’m very happy with the support coming from the Department of the Interior in terms of coming to our aid. I could not have asked for anything more,” he added.

Nikolao Pula, director of the Office of Insular Affairs, Tim Petty, DOI deputy assistant secretary for water and science, Tom Murray, senior research scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey, and Larry Broun, emergency coordinator at DOI, came with Domenech.

“This is my first trip, so this is mostly a listening session for me,” said Domenech.

The two main goals of his visit, he said, is to get information on the planned military buildup in the Marianas, and to see how the federal government can help in addressing energy problems in the islands.

He said the team’s visit to Pagan on Monday was “very enlightening” in that it revealed possibilities of using the volcanic island as a power source for Saipan.

The Interior Department has recently approved a $220,000 grant for a feasibility study on the proposed geothermal power plant on Pagan.

“There’s still a lot of unanswered questions, and what we’re trying to do is start the conversation,” Domenech said.

The group also received a briefing on the power situation, toured the Commonwealth Health Center, and met with local emergency management officials.