The Senate and the House of Representatives will hold a joint investigation on the funding mess involved in the Commonwealth Health Center\u2019s hemodialysis project.<\/p>\n
House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr. said yesterday that both chambers would pursue the issue together.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he said that House speaker Benigno R. Fitial has asked the Office of the Public Auditor to look into the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a Senate and House joint committee to investigate [the hemodialysis project]. The speaker also called on the OPA to audit the project to see if there\u2019s any infraction,\u201d said Reyes.<\/p>\n
He said that there is \u201cbipartisan consensus\u201d on the conduct of the investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minority lawmakers also want this investigated to make sure that it\u2019s not repeated. They also want to make sure that dialysis patients are adequately treated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The House earlier approved to reprogram $5.8 million of Kagman wastewater funds to complete the \u201cunder-funded\u201d hemodialysis project. <\/p>\n
The bill is now up for approval by the Senate.<\/p>\n
Senate minority leader Pete P. Reyes said the upper chamber is ready to approve the proposal but this does not prevent them from conducting a probe of the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to pass the bill because this is for a good cause…But we\u2019d make sure that the players\u2014those responsible for the mess\u2014will be held accountable so we\u2019ll go ahead with the investigation,\u201d said Reyes.<\/p>\n
Reyes also said the Senate would ask the U.S. Inspector General to audit the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project involves federal funds. It appears that there\u2019s a lot of mismanagement, misappropriation, and even malfeasance on the part of participants,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The Babauta administration earlier asked the Legislature to approve the reprogramming of funds for the hemodialysis project, citing that the original appropriation has been depleted with a remaining balance of only $857,000.<\/p>\n
The hemodialysis project was originally given $11 million from Covenant 702 funds but the funding was depleted due to several changes.<\/p>\n
The hemodialysis project was originally awarded to Leo Daly amounting to about $800,000 but due to \u201cunacceptable work\u201d the government entered into a redesign project with Tanaguchi Ruth for nearly $900,000.<\/p>\n
The government also awarded $5.6 million to AIC Marianas to construct the facility.<\/p>\n
The dialysis facility is expected to be completed by next year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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