AS I begin this letter, I sit here in my office in the dark, the only light emanating from this laptop monitor. I turn on my flashlight, only to realize it is dead, probably from exhaustion as it is my only light source during our frequent power outages. I gauge my laptop’s battery meter and realize it’s at 95 percent, good for another thirty minutes at most. I don’t bother calling CUC’s trouble desk since the line is either busy or the person answering the phone is as clueless as I am about the power outages. I’m just sitting here in the dark, tired, indignant, and sincerely contemplating following the masses and moving off of Saipan, my beloved island that has been my home for 32 years.
As angry as I am with our utility crisis, I need to clarify that my anger isn’t directed toward CUC’s frontline people, such as their line men, who are always on call, no matter what time of night it is. Nor am I upset with the director of CUC, Tony Guerrero. Tony has taken on the toughest and most unpopular job in the CNMI. While he is bright and hard-working, solving the utilities crisis is beyond his or any one person’s ability. Our power outages cannot be blamed on Tony, nor can they be blamed solely on our current administration. What truly is to blame is the political system the CNMI has embraced for decades. A system that has been tainted with corruption, greed, poor planning, and bad decision-making; a system that continually places nepotism ahead of competence; and a system that has always embraced a “What’s in it for me and my familia?” attitude. If you feel this is not a fair assessment, you are either blinded by ignorance or are a part of the OBN (ol’ boys network) and have enjoyed a lavish lifestyle at the expense of our people.
I have been advised to keep quiet by some of my elders and in-laws and told not to publicly admonish our government leaders because my criticism may hurt my business. If speaking out and speaking my mind will hurt my business, then as God as my witness, I will shut my business down. And if our people are not willing to speak up and speak out at a time when we need to kick politics to the curb and fight for change, then I must take my wife and two children and find a new home.
It is our civic duty and obligation to our future generations to speak up now! What? You say you can’t be vocal because you may lose your government job? No job is worth keeping while you watch in silence as your island deteriorates.
The truth is, our government and business leaders continue to waste time, money, and resources in fighting federalization when that battle was lost some time ago. There are not enough Jack Abramoffs in Washington to change the pro-federalization stance by the White House and the U.S. Congress. The writing is on the wall; now all we have to do is read it and make the best of it.
No, the U.S. government does not hate us as some people would like us to think. Open your history textbooks and you will remember that the United States is not the enemy. Let’s not forget that over a half century ago, the United States fought to liberate our islands, and it was the United States that gave us democracy and the gift of freedom. But they didn’t stop there. The United States government dished out U.S. passports to our people and poured hundreds of millions of dollars into our islands. But what do we have to show for it? We still haven’t paved the road to Mt. Tapochau as well as almost half of our other roads, even though we received tens of millions of dollars in highway funding (but we did pave some of our family’s private roads for free); we still don’t have twenty-four hour water; we definitely don’t have twenty-four hour power; and to top things off, we can’t even buy toilet tissue for our students.
That’s right. Buy toilet tissue. Marianas High School recently launched a toilet tissue drive because they don’t have enough funds to buy toilet tissue for the student bathrooms. I’m sorry, but when you launch a toilet tissue drive in any society, the S**T has hit the fan.
Even if federalization didn’t happen for another ten years, the CNMI would still be in the same economic disaster we are in right now. Let’s stop pointing the fingers at the United States and blaming federalization for the CNMI’s economic problems.
In case you are too wealthy to realize this, utility rates have more than doubled, our power outages are more frequent than ever, and federalization, although imminent, has yet to take place! Was it really the threat of federalization that drove away Japan Air Lines and closed other large companies? Is it the threat of federalization that is causing small businesses to close every single day? Is it the threat of federalization that has left hundreds of our people without electricity?
One of the places that has frequent unannounced power outages is our tourist district, Garapan. Our government preaches about the importance of tourism, but we can’t keep the power on in Saipan’s tourist center. Last Saturday night, the power went out at 9PM and lasted for a good two hours. Half of Garapan was left without power because they either didn’t have back-up generators, or they couldn’t afford fuel to run their generators after having to pay last month’s excessive utility bill. What kind of message are we sending our tourists when we shut the power off for two hours? When tourists are eating dinner in a Garapan restaurant or having drinks in a Garapan bar and the power goes out, they’re probably scratching their heads and thinking our island is third world. Wait, I was in the Philippines, but I never experienced any power outages. Come to think of it, all of the homes I saw in my Mom’s province had their lights on, and it wasn’t coming from a kerosene lantern. So perhaps our tourists think we are fourth world.
If we really want to make things better, we have no choice but to work on privatizing CUC, or at least certain critical functions of CUC. Like power generation, or the people who answer the phone, for instance. This must happen in order for us to have any chance at economic stability. But privatizing CUC has been talked about for quite some time. In fact, we almost went through with it. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. What stopped CUC’s privatization?
Greed and corruption. Whenever lucrative contracts come into play, progress consistently plays second fiddle to selfish interests. The last attempt at privatizing CUC was a complete nightmare and one would hope that we have learned from these mistakes. We need to have the office of the public auditor examine the next privatization bidding process from the start and ensure that we get realistic bids from reputable companies and weed out the fly-by-night sham corporations. We also need to ensure that a fair and honest bidding system is put in place so that our people (the consumers) get the very best deal possible, rather than the norm of trying to give the contract to someone’s primo, cousin, or uncle, or to someone who just paid a fortune in KIP (kickbacks in pockets) funding.
Another thing that hinders CUC from privatization is ignorance. I’ve heard from some leaders who believe privatization will lead to higher utility rates. This is simply not the case. Privatization means a private company will maximize efficiency and utilize modern technology. A case in point is our privatized communications system, which is one of the best in the Pacific. Could you imagine if we never privatized our phone system and our government was still running it? We would probably still be using rotary dials for phones; phone lines would still be strewn along telephone poles rather than underground, resulting in no phone communication during and after typhoons; long-distance rates would still be $1 to the U.S. per minute; and cellular phones would be something we only see on TV and in the movies. PTI recently spent over $4 million of their own money in upgrading their communications system and we didn’t see an increase in our rates. CUC hasn’t even invested $4 toward buying new engines, and our rates have doubled within the last year!
The bottom line is, privatizing CUC will mean an end to our current band aid solutions, rolling blackouts, and frequent unannounced power outages. Sure, a private company will probably lay off a lot of workers to save money and streamline their workforce. They will undoubtedly fix or replace the current diesel engines we have now so they will run more efficiently; and they will certainly employ alternative sources of renewable, natural energy to cut down on the costs of rising fuel. And maybe, just maybe, they will set up an answering service for their trouble desk so customers don’t get a busy signal, ever! Instead, we would be greeted by a pre-recorded message that provides us with updated information should any power problems arise. Imagine that!
But what if we don’t privatize CUC? For starters, do you honestly think any decent investors will want to come to an island that quite possibly has the highest utility rates in the modern world? Do you honestly think that any smart investors would want to pay excessive utility rates, yet still be subjected to constant power outages without warning or explanation?
Please, let’s all stop with the lies and lame excuses! The cold-hearted truth is our utilities problem is only going to get worse as time goes by, and there is no sensible solution in sight other than privatization. Nuclear power is a pipe dream, and wind-generated power is years and years away – which is not to say that alternative energy can’t be done now, but this government hasn’t yet been able to deal competently with serious investors.
Our utilities crisis is not just crippling our economy; it is single-handedly KILLING it. What is going to happen when our diesel engines finally break down, one by one? We will be plunged into total darkness, which, with all these power outages, I should be quite accustomed to by now.
It upsets me when I think about just how much CUC’s power outages and power surges have cost me personally: lost customers, lost revenue, lost productivity, lost morale, two studio lights, a microwave, and an external hard drive. It upsets me when I think about our people who have lost their power because they can’t afford to pay the highest utility rates in the United States and its territories. It upsets me when my company had to pay a $600 power bill for last month’s utility bill, but have to put up with unplanned power outages. It upsets me that by paying over-inflated utility bills, many families no longer have money to take the family out for a nice dinner, or a movie, or worst yet, to put food on the table. But it really makes my blood boil when our leaders continue to bark up the wrong tree. Forget about federalization; it’s the utilities!
And in case you didn’t know this, Guam has been “federalized” for quite some time, and their economy is in much better shape than ours, and they are even paying their workers the United States’ minimum wage. Please, don’t use Guam’s military as an excuse as to why their economy is doing better. Take a look at thriving Tumon Bay with all the Japanese tourists and then take a look at our Paseo de Ghost Town. Tourists are not flocking to Guam to see the military. And what about the investors? Why would they rather invest in Guam than Saipan, when we control our own immigration and when wages are so much lower here? I don’t know, but could it be that Guam’s government is more stable, and their infrastructure is more sound?
What kills me is that we should attract more tourists than Guam because of our islands’ natural beauty. But then again, over a dozen red flags at Saipan beaches last weekend – including every major tourist beach — coupled with our daily dose of power outages should be more than enough to make our tourists think about another destination for their next vacation. I guess they will head to Guam next time.
As I sit here in the dark and wrap up this letter to the editor, I think about how many leaders will be upset with me because of the things I have said. Please, go ahead and be angry with me. Boycott my business. Declare me persona non grata. I speak from my heart, and I speak with a clear conscience, and because of that, I will sleep good tonight, with or without power.
Within a few minutes, my laptop will die, and I will soon sit in silence as I wait and hope for the power to come back on so I can set my alarm and secure my office before I head home. As my laptop beeps and warns me it is about to shut down, leaving me shrouded in complete darkness, I realize that I should be thankful for at least one thing…
I still have toilet tissue.

EDWIN PROPST
Dandan, Saipan