SHEFA nixes relocation to mayor’s office

The Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance board of directors has thumbed down Saipan Mayor Donald Flores’ invitation to relocate the scholarship program’s business office to the municipality’s building.

SHEFA board member Jose Mafnas disclosed Tuesday that the mayor, in his goal to share the municipality’s logistics and personnel with the scholarship program, encouraged the board to relocate its office to the Saipan Mayor’s Office’s new location at the Ladera Center along Beach Road in Oleai.

Mafnas said that SHEFA was concerned about the move’s financial impact as SHEFA will have to pay rent of $1 per square foot, equivalent to $1,000 a month.

SHEFA, a program under the Saipan Mayor’s Office, occupies a space at the MIHA Housing in Garapan for free. It was reported that the program spends only $300 a month for insurance coverage plus utilities.