Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) has criticized some parts of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres\u2019 spending plan for the American Rescue Plan Act funds that the CNMI has received, describing them as \u201creckless disregard\u201d of the public treasury. <\/p>\n
Sablan pointed out in an interview Friday that none of this federal money is \u201cautomatic.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed out that if the allocation of ARPA funding was based on population size, the CNMI would have gotten very little money so the U.S. Congress had to come up with a formula that would provide some fairness to the Commonwealth as a small territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe figured out that, you know, there has to be a way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The formula that Congress came up with paved the way for the CNMI to get the $500 million from ARPA, he added, which is how they were able to get ARPA money for the territories.<\/p>\n
Yet now there is a plan to use some of that ARPA money in ways that could be better spent elsewhere. Sablan said he understands that Torres is spending ARPA money to develop Pagan.<\/p>\n
He said the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. needs money to improve and expand services, while the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. needs new power engines. The delegate said much of the money should instead be going to CHCC and CUC because that will benefit the people in the long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spend a lot of money and, at the end, when the money is out, we\u2019ve got nothing to show for it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Sablan said the CNMI has also been spending money on hotels. He said for the travel bubble program, the CNMI subsidized each flight for $45,000. \u201cWe\u2019re paying for the hotel rooms and then we\u2019re giving them spending money,\u201d the delegate said, adding that the CNMI got less than a hundred people that took part in the program. \u201cHow much [did] we spend? I don\u2019t know yet but we spent a lot of money. Just think, $45,000 subsidy per flight, and now we have three flights a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of press time yesterday, Saipan Tribune was waiting for comments from the administration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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