THE U.S. Office of Insular Affairs provided a technical help grant to the CNMI government so it could review the Commonwealth Health Centers organizational structure.
But the Fitial administration instead awarded a $360,000 contract for the desk audit of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and the Department of Public Safety.
Variety also learned that the terms in the request for proposal that the administration provided to the eight bidders were different from what was conducted by Virginia-based Management Analysis Inc., which won the contract.
One of MAIs managers is Gov. Benigno R. Fitial lobbyist, Lynn A. Knight. Its local agent is Tan Holdings corporate affairs manager Ed Arriola Jr.
Fitial and Knight are former Tan Holdings executives.
Fitial earlier appointed Arriola to the Zoning Board. Arriola is also the œdestination enhancement chairman of the Marianas Visitors Authority.
Some of the losing bidders told this reporter that they felt misled by the administration.
When the administration requested for the technical assistant grant two years ago, it listed CHC, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., the Public School System, the Department of Public Works and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs as the entities it wanted assessed.
The total cost of the project would be $1.4 million " $433,361 for CHC; $310,339 for CUC; $294,487 for PSS; $238,363 for DPW; and $179,219 for DCCA.
The project, the grant request stated, would œresult in right-sizing existing government programs, thus realizing service savings opportunities while continuing to meet program objectives.
It would also œdevelop a list of recommended jobs that will be in-demand. To accommodate the employees who will be affected by the organizational assessment, the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Labor will arrange a job honest with the private sector.
The administration said the departments listed for review œare areas of concern as they provide services affecting the welfare of the CNMI people.
On May 12, 2008, OPM Director Isidro K. Seman and training director Peter C. Eche came up with an RFP for the project that will be implemented in the five departments.
This was the RFP presented to the eight vendors including MAI.
On May 19, 2008, OIA Director Nikolao Pula sent Fitial a notification of grant award amounting to $360,000.
These federal funds, Pula told Fitial in his letter, œare provided to help the CNMI in obtaining a qualified firm to conduct an organizational review for CHC.
The review, Pula said, should œfocus on cost reduction, utilizing a structure and proven methodology to help the CNMI government make sound business decisions on downsizing, outsourcing and privatization while minimizing the social economic impacts.
Pula said the funds œare not to be used for any purpose other than that for which they are offered without prior approval from OIA.
œAny substantial change in the scope of work or project budget must be submitted to the grant manager. The project revisions shall not be implemented until the OIA grant manager sends written approval to the grantee, Pula added.
MAI has already submitted to Fitial a report on its œcomprehensive review of DCCA and DPS.
Why the changes
In an interview yesterday, Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan said since the commonwealth was only awarded some $300,000, it was impossible to conduct a government-wide review.
The CNMI government, he said, told OIA that the audit review would be conducted at certain agencies œuntil such time that further funding becomes available.
OIA, Demapan said, recognized the commonwealths concerns and left the selection of agencies to be the responsibility of the CNMI government.
In reviewing each agency in the original request, CUC was ruled out because of the statutorily formed Public Utilities Corporation which has oversight of CUC.
CHC, by way of law, is already in a transition period to becoming a corporation, Demapan said.
Conducting an audit on an organization whose functions will no longer be under the Department of Public Health did not make for a sound investment, he added.
He said in an effort to utilize the available funds, the government felt that it was in the best interest of the CNMI to start with DPS and DCCA œgiven their size and the complexities of employment structures and pay scales that come along with being a larger department.
. Fitial, in his letter to Pula on Sept. 25, 2008, said the CNMI government amended its request to provide œflexibility to include the review of other departments, specifically focusing on all administrative support employees.
Fitial said he felt that initiating review would swiftly identify where the majority of CNMI government costs existed.
The governor also anticipated that the funding may be insufficient but he said the administration would design the RFP in a way that would allow the CNMI government to œencumber up to the funding available.
Demapan said bids that were submitted were way above the funding level provided by OIA.
œWe are pleased to have conducted an audit review since it is line with the administrations goals to address and rectify areas of inefficiency in order to ensure that the governments operations are cost-effective and efficient.
We hope that future funding opportunities will be made available for the CNMI to expand its audit review throughout the other government agencies, Demapan said.
Article source: http://www.mvariety.com/2010102031281/local-news/feds-expected-desk-audit-of-chc-not-dcca-dps.php
No Tag
Halo Sobat, Nama Saya Sofyan Syah, Memulai Dunia Blogging Sejak Nov 2011, Meskipun Masih Baru terjun di Dunia Blogging, Saya tidak patah semangat Untuk menjadi Yang terbaik dari yang Terbaik, karena saya yakin, Tidak ada hal yang tidak Mungkin.Buat saya Blogging Is My Life.Senang rasanya jika sobat sudah Berkunjung di blog ini.
Komentar :
Post a Comment