Previous Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive directors and legal counsels have found unwarranted a construction firm\u2019s ongoing claim of $904,619 for past projects, acting CUC executive director John Riegel told Saipan Tribune yesterday.<\/p>\n
The construction firm, TM Corp., spoke to the board last week through former senator Pete Reyes.<\/p>\n
TM Corp. believes it has a $904,619 claim on a sewer extension project in Chinatown that dates back more than a decade ago to 2001. TM Corp. says because of this lack of payment, the company has since closed down as majority of its assets were tied to this project.<\/p>\n
When sought for an update on the issue, Riegel said CUC counsel has invited the firm to look and make copies of CUC files as CUC has deferred the claim to the Office of the Attorney General.<\/p>\n
Riegel said previous executive directors and legal counsels have already given an opinion about the claim, which TM Corp. has brought to CUC\u2019s attention in past years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opinion was that there is no additional compensation warranted,\u201d Riegel said.<\/p>\n
The claim, according to Riegel, is an \u201cadditional compensation\u201d for \u201cstand-by time\u201d and work the firm had to excavate hard rock from their construction site.<\/p>\n
Riegel said the firm needed special rock-breaking equipment to dig through the soil.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026If the assertion is that they haven\u2019t been paid for work done, that\u2019s not true,\u201d Riegel said. \u201cThey were paid a million dollars or so for completed work.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said CUC counsels have found \u201cno justification for additional compensation,\u201d per the terms of contract, but \u201c[TM Corp.] is of a different opinion,\u201d Riegel said.<\/p>\n
Last Wednesday, Reyes brought to the CUC board\u2019s attention an Open Government Act request that was past its 10-day deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard it was being forwarded to the AG\u2019s Office\u2026So we wanted to make sure we had all the documents referenced to the issue only that affected the claim,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason for that is we wanted to make sure we had the same record so we can review that, and make sure that if we were going to bring this further for legal remedy, then we have all these requirements with us so we are not going to be facing any surprises,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Reyes, a June 16 letter invoking the OGA was not acknowledged until last Wednesday. Reyes said he was later informed that CUC counsel James Sirok was off-island and did not receive a copy of the letter. Reyes said they sent a follow up OGA letter on July 1.<\/p>\n
Last month, the CUC board voted to defer TM Corp.\u2019s $904,619 claim to the Attorney General\u2019s Office, explaining that the original contract was with the local government and not the utility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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