By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Benigno R. Fitial will deliver his second State of the Commonwealth Address on April 27 amid the islands’ worsening economic crisis.
“Our government is in financial crisis. We didn’t create this crisis but we are going to fix it,” the governor said in his first address on April 21, 2006.
To date, more than a dozen garment factories on Saipan have shut down, and international flights serving the CNMI route remain limited.
Except for Kumho, Asiana Airlines’ parent company, which recently purchased Laolao Bay Golf Course Resort, no new major investor has come to the islands.
But the administration said the governor did keep his promise to implement austerity measures and ensure that the government lives within its projected revenues.
The governor also suspended the cash-strapped government’s regular contributions to the Retirement Fund.
He also promised to reverse the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s financial losses — but at a higher cost to its customers.
Since July 2006, residents and businesses have been paying more than double the cost for their electricity, but power outages still occur.
Government workers and residents who asked not to be identified expressed the hope that the administration can still manage to improve the islands’ economy which has been in a downturn since 1998.
The joint session of the Legislature that will hear the governor’s address and the the State of the Washington Office Report from Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio will take place at the Honorable Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.